Get your questions ready compounders!
The Pharmacy Board of Australia has released an invitation to compounding pharmacists and stakeholders to attend a forum regarding the review of their Guidelines for compounding of medicines. Originally published in 2015, then partly revised in 2018, the guidelines were due to be reviewed in March 2020. As with lots of items scheduled for March 2020, the review has been delayed. Compounding pharmacists are being invited to attend one of two virtual webinar sessions at the end of this month. Click here (opens PDF) to see the official statement from the Pharmacy Board of Australia.
But why are the guidelines being reviewed? It is a feature of any good documentation system; documents should be reviewed on a regular basis for accuracy, suitability and currency. The PBA Guidelines for compounding of medicines were originally drafted in 2015 after the TGA launched efforts to put some kind of formal regulation of compounding in place. As compounding pharmacies are exempt from having a TGA manufacturing license it was definitely more appropriate that the pharmacy board released guidelines. Pharmacists have spent the last 5 years trying to decipher different parts of the guidelines which can be vague and dangerously open to interpretation. There are some contradictions and outdated references so it’s time to review. The last 6 years has brought about a lot of change for compounders with local state regulators stepping up to the plate providing their own interpretation of the guidelines, although recently the guidelines for NSW have mysteriously disappeared from their website.
While the PBA has not provided a reviewed document for consideration at this time, they are asking for attendees to submit their questions. As pharmacists who work in the industry it is very important that you make the time to attend one of the 2 sessions. We have had an issue for years that (for the most part), the people with the time don’t have the expertise, and the people with the expertise don’t have the time. I’m a strong believer that the most knowledgeable people are those who do the job every day. You know what is most practical and how these things may affect your ability to support your patients.
To reserve your spot, click here.