Pharmacies share new service offerings with their communities

While there are times when a GP is most suitable, a visit to the pharmacy can save time for a consumer, help reduce pressure on the health system and lessen the impact on workforce shortages particularly in regional and rural communities.

Healthdirect has supported the Pharmacy Pilots by working with participating pharmacies to ensure their enhanced medication and service offerings, including management of urinary tract infections and skin conditions, and hormonal contraception resupply are included in the National Health Services Directory (NHSD). The NHSD provides nationally consistent, authoritative, reliable and easily accessible information about health and related services to enable consumers to make appropriate choices when seeking these services.

Nationally, 110,000 health services are accessible via the NHSD and 95% of pharmacies are listed. Information on Australian health services, including pharmacies, contained within the NHSD is accessible to the general public via the Healthdirect Service Finder.

Consumers can search Service Finder, to find a pharmacy that provides these enhanced offerings and book an appointment online if available at that pharmacy. In FY25, there were more than 560,000 searches for ‘pharmacy’ on Service Finder.

Collaboration to improve access to care

General Manager for the NHSD, Prashan Malalasekera says, “The collaborative work over the past six months with pharmacies showcases the value of the NHSD and Service Finder in supporting innovative ways to create more visibility and access to healthcare and services for the community. The pharmacy pilot aims to improve patient access to care and enhanced productivity in the primary care sector.”

NHSD supports better access to palliative care medicines

Healthdirect has also supported the inclusion of palliative care medicine as a service offering on Service Finder pharmacy listings to ensure this information is available to the public. Palliative care medicines are important for consumers who need them urgently; however not every pharmacy holds these medicines. Now, via Service Finder, consumers can search where to find these medicines when they need them urgently. This could help provide immediate care and limit stress.

Professor Liz Reymond, Director of caring@home, a National Palliative Care Project funded by the Australian Government and led by the Brisbane South Palliative Care Collaborative says:

‘‘Stocking medicines from the pharmacy listing plays a vital role in supporting timely medicine access, which can help avoid unnecessary suffering and unwanted transfers to inpatient facilities for a home-based patient."