An accredited pharmacist will have to visit patients' homes before they can start to take medicine under the Home Medicine Program under reforms announced by the Federal Government.

Federal Health Minister, Tanya Plibersek, said that the reforms were proposed after it emerged that some checks were not taking place before patients undertook their medicine course, significantly increasing their likelihood of taking the wrong medicine or wrong dosage.

“The evidence is clear that the very best way for us to help patients who might be at risk of accidently taking the wrong medicine is for an accredited pharmacist to visit the person at their home," Ms Plibersek said.

“It is important for a pharmacist to see for themselves what a patient is taking as those at risk of not using medication correctly could be elderly, infirm or perhaps may have poor English literacy.” 

Ms Plibersek said it was unacceptable that under the program some 1,500 medicine checks each month were taking place outside the home.

After consultation with the Pharmacy Guild the Government will now require an accredited pharmacist to visit the patients’ homes and have access to all medicines they are using. This includes prescription medicines, over the counter and complementary medicines. 

“The popularity of these checks shows that patients appreciate the benefits of improved medication management so it is important we get it right.” 
“In the future, medication reviews under the program will only be conducted outside the home of clients where there is pre-approval for defined circumstances – such as patient or pharmacist safety, or for cultural reasons.”