March 30, 2015
South Australia/Northern Territory PSA/MIMS Intern of the Year award announced
South Australian intern Philip Spyrou has been announced as the PSA MIMS Australia SA/NT Intern of the Year for 2014.
The prestigious award celebrates the achievements of exceptional interns in developing skills for their professional career.
Presenting the award SA/NT PSA Branch President, Ms Sue Edwards, said:
“All nominees are to be congratulated and it is great for the future of the pharmacy profession to have such wonderful young pharmacists beginning their career. In particular, congratulations to Philip who has displayed initiative and leadership in sharing information about medicines to assist in improving health outcomes for not only the direct customers but also the wider community.”
Mr Spyrou graduated from the University of South Australia and completed his intern year at Better Health Pharmacy, Fulham Gardens, where he has shown commitment to excellence in pharmacy service delivery and particularly, patient-centred care.
He is focussed on helping to improve medication understanding and management both in-store and within the Greek community; for example, by delivering talks at local community or sporting clubs on medication management, common medical conditions and dose administration aids.
He believes that pharmacists should be at the forefront of pharmacy, spending his time at the pharmacy both in the dispensary and on the shop floor, making himself accessible and approachable to his patients at all times.
Actively involved in 5-CPA PPI programs, Mr Spyrou offers in-store checks and recording of blood pressure and blood glucose levels. He performs MedsChecks with confidence and offers time and support to patients with difficulty managing their conditions.
Dinah Graham from MIMS Australia said:
“Being able to provide an award for excellence such as the MIMS PSA Intern of the Year Award is something the team from MIMS relishes.
We are all passionate about the safe use of medicines and pharmacists are in the forefront of this area of patient care each every day.
To see the enthusiasm and appetite for patient centred care displayed by these young interns shows a vital and successful future for community pharmacy.”
MIMS is the sponsor of this award and contributes the major prize of $2,000 to each State winner to be used to advance their pharmacy career.
At PSA15, the PSA MIMS Intern of the Year Award recipient will be announced, with the winner being chosen from the State finalists.
The award will go to the State winner deemed to have created the most significant innovation during the year.
MIMS is the leading supplier of trusted, quality, independent medicine information to Australian healthcare professionals, known for its high level of editorial integrity and independence.
MIMS Australia has been publishing medicines information since for 50 years and have a keen interest in the development of the profession of pharmacy.
March 31, 2013
Current system of pharmacy serves Australian community well
The current system of community pharmacy has been proven to serve the Australian community well and delivers equitable access to medicines as outlined under the National Medicines Policy.
Responding to recommendation in the Competition Policy Review final report that pharmacy ownership and location rules be phased out, National President of the PSA, Grant Kardachi, said the system was not broken, and so did not need to be fixed.
“The current system of location rules ensures pharmacies are well distributed across Australia to serves the needs of the Australian community and ensures that quality medicines’ use is provided to all Australians.
“I have yet to see evidence that a different system will produce greater benefits for the Australian community.
“In regards to ownership, the current limits on the number of pharmacies that can be owned are important as this ensures pharmacy owners are focused and committed on the health needs of consumers.
“Ownership by pharmacists is beneficial as they have an absolute commitment to serving the needs of their consumers and they place consumers’ health as their priority,” Mr Kardachi said.
“This is in line with PSA’s Code of Ethics which stresses consumer health outcomes as a priority and all pharmacists are expected to adhere to this code as part of their everyday practice in whatever sector of pharmacy they work.
“Pharmacists have evolved over time a range of professional services to better serve their patient needs.
“In addition, they provide other services such as home deliveries, usually free of charge.
“Non-pharmacist ownership would put profitability above health outcomes and consumer needs.”
“We should build on the existing system in the next Community Pharmacy Agreement by developing and implementing a wider range of professional services which consumers can access through their pharmacy,” he said.