GPs call for action on real-time prescription monitoring in NSW

‘We have seen the value of real-time prescription monitoring in Tasmania and Victoria. It’s time for doctors, pharmacists and patients to have the opportunity to use a similar system in New South Wales,’ Chair of RACGP NSW&ACT Professor Charlotte Hespe said.
 
‘GPs are on the front line of this crisis and we desperately need a real-time tool to help us identify and support patients experiencing addiction to prescription drugs.
 
‘As a GP, knowing if someone is genuinely in need of a prescription or requires assistance for an addiction means I can provide the right care to the right patient.’
 
Victoria’s prescription-monitoring system, SafeScript, was rolled in 2018 and has recorded successful results; while Tasmania’s Drugs and Poisons Information System Online Remote Access (DORA) was first trialled in 2012.
 
The NSW opposition last year announced plans for a real-time prescription monitoring system in an effort to curb a growing number of opioid-related deaths, but the State Government was clear in its belief that a national approach is needed.
 
Professor Hespe believes NSW is in danger of falling behind other states in terms of patient health and safety.
 
‘With a state election to be held later this month, patients need to be calling on candidates to keep our communities safer with better monitoring of high risk prescriptions,’ she said.
 
‘Put simply, we need to see the Government take action before more lives are lost.
 
‘If a patient in Tasmania is suffering from an addiction, they are flagged as needing assistance, whereas in New South Wales some of our most vulnerable patients risk slipping through the cracks.’

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