The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) welcomes today's announcement that the government has acted on our calls to relax the laws to allow GPs to send electronic prescriptions to patients.
The Australian Government Department of Health today announced new interim arrangements for prescriptions to support telehealth services.
Under the arrangements, patients can get a prescription from their GP sent to their phone or email, which they can send to a pharmacy. Patients can also choose to have their GP send their prescription direct to their pharmacy of choice and their medication can be delivered to their door.
RACGP President Dr Harry Nespolon welcomed the move as a breakthrough for GPs to continue providing quality care to patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"This is a vital part of the puzzle to enable GPs to continue providing the same quality care to their patients via telehealth as they do face-to-face.
"It means patients with a variety of health conditions can get a prescription from their GP sent to their phone or email, which they can send to a pharmacy and the medicine can be delivered. A patient can also choose to have their GP send their prescription direct to their pharmacy.
"This breakthrough that the RACGP argued strongly for will enable GPs to better support their patients during this pandemic and help to minimize the spread of COVID-19 in our community as people can access medical care and any medication they may need without needing to leave their home."
It comes after the government acted on the RACGP's calls to expand telehealth to all patients to slow the spread of COVID-19, and ensure patients across Australia can continue accessing quality health care from their GP.
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