The Queensland Government's election commitment to make its pharmacy pilots permanent despite numerous cases of misdiagnosis and incorrect treatment and without a clinical evaluation is a serious risk to Queenslander's health, the Royal Australian College of GPs is warning.
The Miles Labor Government announced today that it will make both the Community Pharmacy Scope of Practice Pilot and the Pharmacy Hormonal Contraception Pilot permanent if elected this month.
RACGP Queensland spokesperson Dr Bruce Willett slammed the move as dangerous.
"The Miles Government is putting politics before the health and wellbeing of Queenslanders, and I strongly urge other parties not to follow suit.
"My message to Queenslanders is this – this election commitment from the Miles Government could put your health and wellbeing at serious risk, and it's just not worth it.
"We have already seen too many cases of misdiagnosis and incorrect treatment from these pharmacy experiments. A survey found the most common mistakes were chlamydia, herpes and gonorrhoea, and an ectopic pregnancy, all diagnosed incorrectly as urinary tract infections. Pregnancy was labelled UTI on at least six occasions.
"What this shows is what the Miles government doesn't understand – patients come with symptoms, not a diagnosis. Diagnosis is complex and requires years of training – Specialist GPs train for over 10 years to understand the difference between a minor ailment and something more serious.
"None of these experimental pilots have been properly evaluated for health outcomes, and the Government has done nothing to ensure Queenslanders do not suffer poor health outcomes as a result.
"If these experimental pharmacy pilots are made permanent, we will see many more cases of misdiagnosis and incorrect treatment, and life-threatening illnesses could be missed.
"This is exactly what happened in the UK when they allowed non-medically trained health professionals to do the work doctors do and treat patients when they aren't trained to make a diagnosis.
"These pilots bypass Australia's national regulations for prescription medicines, which exist to keep patients safe. The Therapeutic Goods Administration, or TGA, determines the rules for medicines to protect the health of Australians and has transparent processes in place for safety."
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