The Pharmacy Guild of Australia, Queensland Branch Vice President, Amanda Seeto, said today that a growing number of women in Queensland continue to access urinary tract infection (UTI) services through community pharmacies across the state.
Ms Seeto said over ten thousand occasions of service had been offered since April 2023. "In just over one year, there have been 10,148 occasions of service across Queensland," said Ms Seeto.
"This represents thousands of Queensland women who have been able to access UTI treatment in their local community pharmacy rather than having to wait for GP appointments or having to access treatment through hospital presentations.
"As anyone who has ever been treated for a UTI knows, time is of the essence, and delayed treatment can potentially lead to more serious conditions."
Ms Seeto said hundreds of community pharmacies across the state are involved in offering UTI services.
"There are currently almost 800 community pharmacies offering UTI services in Queensland," said Ms Seeto, "this means this service is highly accessible to most Queenslanders.
"97% of people who live in metropolitan areas live within 2.5 kilometres of their nearest community pharmacy, and 83% of regional Australians live within five kilometres of their nearest pharmacy," Ms Seeto said.
The ability of community pharmacies in Queensland comes off the back of a successful UTI pilot, which ran between June 2020 and July 2022 and saw over 10,000 women aged 18-65 receive UTI treatment.
"An independent review deemed the UTI Pilot a success, so much so that this service was made permanent in Queensland and rolled out in other states around Australia."
Ms Seeto said. Ms Seeto also said two other statewide Pilots were underway. The first is the Community Pharmacy Scope of Practice Pilot which allows community pharmacists to treat 17 everyday conditions and five chronic health conditions, including school sores, shingles, mild psoriasis, wound management, swimmer's ear, travel health, and hypertension.
"Community pharmacists in North Queensland are already rolling out services and offering more choices to patients," said Ms Seeto. "Pharmacists throughout the rest of Queensland will soon be commencing 12 months of training to participate in this Pilot as well."
The second Pilot is the Community Pharmacy Hormonal Contraception Pilot, which was announced earlier this year and will allow participating community pharmacists to prescribe hormonal birth control to women 16 years and older.
"First occasions of service for the Community Pharmacy Hormonal Contraception Pilot are expected to begin in late July," shared Ms Seeto. "This is another Australia-first Pilot that will give women access to the convenient and timely health care they deserve."
To locate the nearest community pharmacy offering UTI services, patients are encouraged to visit www.findapharmacy.com.au
