Five members of the Pharmacy Council are local pharmacists, elected by local pharmacists. The process to elect members for the next 3 year term of office commences on 1 October 2015, when the call for nominations opens.

Please note that ‘local pharmacist’ means a pharmacist whose principal place of practice is in NSW.

The election is being managed by the NSW Electoral Commission.

All enquiries concerning this election should be directed to Diana Kosseifi at the NSW Electoral Commission on (02) 9290 5924.

Pharmacy Council of NSW election notice material

This issue you we introduce you to
Terry Maunsell and Adrian Lee,
Practitioner Members of the Pharmacy Council.
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As registered pharmacists working in NSW, we have a duty of care to make sure that patients are using their medication appropriately. Oxycodone and fentanyl are 2 examples of Schedule 8 (S8) medications that have been reported in the public media as being diverted for illicit or criminal purposes from legitimate patients who benefit financially via additional income.
However, evidence of how widespread this activity is, is not conclusive.
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In recent months, the Council has received numerous complaints about non-PBS pharmacies dispensing medicines under the PBS.
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When dispensing from a repeat prescription it is essential that it is dispensed from the duplicate prescription, not from the repeat form.
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In late May 2015, another compounding pharmacy centre in the US (Bethesda, Maryland), was shut down due to fungal contamination of a clinical trials medicine used by the National Institute of Health (NIH).
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All dispensing incidents should be treated seriously by all parties – dispensing pharmacists and proprietors alike. Apart from other expectations as a registered pharmacist working in NSW, both parties are responsible for ensuring that action is taken to fix the error and prevent a recurrence.
Recent error leads to complaint
In a recent and serious dispensing error involving methotrexate, the dispensing pharmacist (and proprietor) labelled the medicine ‘Take 10 tablets each week’.
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A case study
Unsatisfactory professional conduct is conduct that demonstrates that the knowledge, skill or judgment possessed, or care exercised, by a pharmacist is significantly below the standard reasonably expected of a pharmacist of an equivalent level of training or experience.
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A panellist’s perspective
By Anne Reynolds
The prime responsibility of the Pharmacy Council is to protect the public by ensuring that health practitioners are practising in a competent and ethical manner.
When the Pharmacy Council becomes aware that a practitioner or student has or may have, an impairment by way of a notification to the Council, it manages the practitioner through the health pathway. This is often accomplished by requiring the practitioner to appear before an Impaired Registrants Panel (IRP).
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Infection control breaches in Sydney dental practices
The Dental Council has taken action in recent months to suspend or impose conditions on 13 dental practitioners involved in serious infection control breaches.

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Read more about inspections at dental practices…