{"id":5750,"date":"2020-03-31T15:25:23","date_gmt":"2020-03-31T15:25:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=5750"},"modified":"2020-03-31T15:25:23","modified_gmt":"2020-03-31T15:25:23","slug":"new-powers-for-pharmacists-dispensing-medicine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2020\/03\/31\/new-powers-for-pharmacists-dispensing-medicine\/","title":{"rendered":"NEW POWERS FOR PHARMACISTS DISPENSING MEDICINE"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>NSW pharmacists now have extra powers enabling them to dispense medicines without a prescription and can now stay open 24\/7, as the State fights COVID-19.<br \/>\nMinister for Health and Medical Research Brad Hazzard said a special authority has been granted to community pharmacists to assist people who can\u2019t access their GP.<br \/>\n\u201cThis new authority comes at a crucial time for NSW, when we are looking at keeping our entire medical ecosystem free of red tape,\u201d Mr Hazzard said.<br \/>\n\u201cIt gives our trusted community pharmacists the ability to dispense when people are not able to contact their GP to arrange a prescription at a time when we want everyone to stay home as much as possible.\u201d<br \/>\nPharmacies are also now able to operate 24 hours a day.\u00a0 The NSW Government is also addressing the over-supply of prescription and over-the-counter medicines and recently introduced new limits to ensure equitable access.<br \/>\nFor example, salbutamol (such as Ventolin brand) inhalers must now only be supplied (when over-the-counter by the pharmacist) as a single pack for a medically diagnosed lung condition.<br \/>\n\u201cThe NSW Government recognises the role of community pharmacists as frontline health workers supporting the community,\u201d Mr Hazzard said.<br \/>\n\u201cI want to remind the community to not panic buy, not abuse staff, and be respectful of people who hold a very special place on the frontline of our fight to keep the community safe and well.\u201d<br \/>\nFamilies can also take advantage of an initiative announced earlier this year, enabling pharmacists to administer flu vaccines to anyone over 10 years.<br \/>\nAdvice to pharmacists is available at:<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.health.nsw.gov.au\/Infectious\/diseases\/Pages\/covid-19-pharmacy.aspx\">https:\/\/www.health.nsw.gov.au\/Infectious\/diseases\/Pages\/covid-19-pharmacy.aspx<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NSW pharmacists now have extra powers enabling them to dispense medicines without a prescription and can now stay open 24\/7, as the State fights COVID-19. Minister for Health and Medical Research Brad Hazzard said a special authority has been granted to community pharmacists to assist people who can\u2019t access their GP. \u201cThis new authority comes &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2020\/03\/31\/new-powers-for-pharmacists-dispensing-medicine\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;NEW POWERS FOR PHARMACISTS DISPENSING MEDICINE&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nswnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5750\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}