Sixty-day dispensing may sound good, but if you dig a little deeper, it is rural and regional Australia that will pay, writes Trent Twomey of the Pharmacy Guild.

“I fear patients won’t realise the true impact of 60-day dispensing until the pharmacy they’ve got, is gone. And by then it will be too late,” said Trent.

An independent report published recently by respected economist Henry Ergas AO, along with Tulipwood Advisory and the Relational Insights Data Lab at Griffith University has revealed the policy will lead to the loss of 20,818 community pharmacy jobs and the closure of 665 pharmacies nationwide.

Soon regional patients will feel the effect with cuts to free services such as blood pressure monitoring, diabetes management, websters packs for the aged and home delivery of medicines.

These are all services which the current dispensing arrangement helps pay for and keeps your local pharmacy‘s doors open for longer.

Unless the government delays the implementation of 60-day dispensing, as has been recommended, you will be seeing more of these cuts and closures from September when the policy is in place.

The Heart Foundation is urging men to think more about their daily behaviour during this year’s Men’s Health Week. The annual week’s theme for 2023 is ‘healthy habits’, with a focus on encouraging men to adopt new, healthier habits to improve physical and mental wellbeing. 

Heart Foundation Senior Food and Nutrition Advisor, Jemma O’Hanlon said Men’s Health Week continues to gain traction as men become more aware of their risk factors. “Men’s Health Week is a great opportunity to start and build on conversations about healthy living,” Ms O’Hanlon said. 

“We always encourage small changes that can be adapted into people’s daily routines. Generally, that doesn’t mean giving up a favourite food entirely, but rather making small swaps on a daily basis. 

“The same applies to exercise, which may begin with gentle walking routines that might lead to something more strenuous in the future. Initially, however it’s about making regular and sustainable changes.” 

Here are some of the Heart Foundation’s tips for healthy eating and exercise: 

• Boost your diet with potassium-rich fruit and vegetables to help lower blood pressure. 

• Enjoy more healthy fats from salmon, avocado and nuts to help lower cholesterol. 

• Snack on Greek yoghurt for the ultimate high protein boost, pre or post exercise. 

• Beef up meat dishes with additional legumes or lentils (a nice little cost saver too). 

• Try a hearty new recipe – download the Heart Foundation’s new Winter Comfort Recipe Book. 

The Heart Foundation’s Personal Walking Plans are a free, online, six-week walking program developed by accredited exercise physiologists. Designed for people to reach the Australian physical activity guidelines by week six, the program includes supportive motivational messaging and instructional videos to help get you moving. More information can be found online at: https://walkingplans.heartfoundation.org.au/ 

Do you travel long distances for specialised healthcare?

If you travel more than 100km one way, or 200km in a week, for specialised treatment that is not available locally, you can claim financial assistance towards travel and accommodation costs.

The Isolated Patients Travel and Accommodation Assistance Scheme (IPTAAS) is designed to support patients from rural and regional NSW when they need it most.

People who travel to places like Sydney or Canberra for treatment can benefit from the extra assistance provided by the IPTAAS scheme.

Increased subsidies for travel and accommodation are now available for appointments or treatment. Patients attending high-risk foot clinics, non-commercial clinical trials, highly specialised publicly funded oral health clinics in NSW and ocularists are now also eligible to claim.

If your travels for specialist medical treatment have been impacted by the recent flooding situation in NSW, please contact the IPTAAS team to talk about your individual situation and how we may be able to assist you with your IPTAAS application.

To find out if you are eligible, ask your social worker or healthcare team, call 1800 478 227 or visit: www.iptaas.health.nsw.gov.au

Statistics show one in five men across Australia will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime, prompting one local volunteer group to ensure these men don’t go through a diagnosis alone.

The Parkes Prostate Cancer Awareness and Support Group aims to provide a supportive environment for men to connect with others going through a similar journey and share their experiences to improve health and wellbeing. The group meets on the fourth Tuesday of each month at Parkes Neighbourhood Central at 7pm. 

Support Group spokesperson, Michael Lynch, encouraged men and their partners impacted by prostate cancer to reach out for support. 

“We know some men can have a hard time reaching out for help when times get tough. That’s why we’re here, to make sure that no man in our region feels like they have to walk this journey alone,” he said.

“Our members are fathers, sons, brothers, grandfathers, and uncles and all have a story to share. We enjoy getting out and about to start the conversation about prostate cancer and let locals know the importance of getting checked by their doctors. It’s a simple thing that can save lives,” said Michael.

To find out more about the Prostate Cancer Support Group, call 1800 22 00 99 or visit www.pcfa.org.au/support/find-a-support-group. National Volunteer Week runs from Monday 15th May to Sunday 21st May.

Currently, 95% of Fijian children are being vaccinated against Rubella, which is good news, but this was not always the case. There are many, many older Fijians who are deaf or have severe hearing difficulties, and not all of them are able to afford to go to an audiologist.

There is an Australian audiometrist in Suva who does free work for poorer people. The Parkes Que Club has been supporting this work for many years by supplying him with old, behind the ear type, hearing aids.

This is where you may be able to help. Do you have any discarded hearing aids at home? It doesn’t matter whether or not they still work. Tom Shepherd cannibalises the faulty one and uses the good parts to make working hearing aids. Of course, if they still work, that’s even better.

We now have several locations where there are boxes where you can leave your old hearing aids, and they will be emptied just before our monthly business meetings and sent on to Tom. This is such a simple way to give some less fortunate people the gift of hearing.

You will find our boxes at Can Assist, Central West Child Care Services, Hanson Optometrist, OPSM and St Vincent de Paul in Parkes, and also at the Forbes Medical Centre. 

These new boxes are also big enough to hold discarded prescription glasses. As there is no longer a Lions Club in Parkes, we send these onto the Lions who distribute them to needy people in other countries.

Que Club would also like to thank all the people in Parkes and Forbes who are now knitting Teddy Bears for our local ambulances to comfort small children in distressing circumstances. The finished bears now can be left at Parkes Décor near the Leagues Club.

These are all small ways in which working together we can make a huge difference to the lives of disadvantaged people.

If you want any more information about these projects or about our Que club, call Pam on 0407 894 498.

By Pam Nankivell
Parkes Que Club

The decision by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) to backflip on its restriction on the availability of an asthma medication highlights that its decisions are not set in stone.

Welcoming the reversal, National President of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia Trent Twomey said it was a pragmatic and common sense win for patients.

“Quite clearly the original decision to restrict availability of this important medicine was wrong,” Professor Twomey said.

“There was no logic to it, and the PBAC has now seen sense.”

Under the PBAC decision last month, the medicines for children aged six years and under had to be initially prescribed by a respiratory specialist, and then could only be prescribed with authority approval by Medicare.

Additionally, patients over the age of six could no longer access the medicine as a pharmaceutical benefit, forcing them to buy privately which imposed a significant cost burden, primarily for those with concessional status. Also, there were no equivalent alternatives available for patients over the age of six.