The AJP Podcast

Conversations around the future direction of the pharmacy profession need to include the voices of young pharmacists, Ayomide Ogundipe the PSA Early Career Pharmacist board director, says.  In this podcast, Carlene McMaugh speaks to Ogundipe about early career pharmacists’ (ECPs) views on the issues impacting the profession and its future.  Among the topics covered are the need for ECPs’s “p...

Double dispensing is falling short of its aims, and causing tension between patients and their healthcare practitioners, leaders of CAPS claim In this podcast, Carlene McMaugh speaks to Christine Kelly and Emil Demyane from the Community and Pharmacy Support Group (CAPS) about the organisation’s ongoing campaign against the federal government’s 60-day dispensing policy. Among the issue...

When they see a gap where pharmacy skills are missing, pharmacists should “absolutely go for it” and follow their passions, one pharmacist says Yvette Anderson, clinical accredited pharmacist in Bendigo, talks to the AJP Podcast’s Carlene McMaugh about her lived and professional experience with neurodivergence, non-traditional pharmacist roles and imposter syndrome. The hospital pharmacist , who h...

Angus Thompson talks about the state of the Home Medicine Review program and the ongoing debate over its funding  In this edition of the AJP podcast, our host, Carlene McMaugh, speaks to Angus Thompson, a Tasmanian accredited pharmacist and academic. Key topics are the debate over the funding of Home Medicine Reviews (HMRs) and how this will fit into the Eighth Community Pharmacy Agreement.    Top...

In this episode of the AJP Podcast, host Carlene McMaugh speaks to harm reduction experts about the way changes to opioid dependence therapy were made – and how pharmacy reacted Sarah Lord and Sione Crawford of Harm Reduction Victoria discuss the change to ODT funding, which Lord describes as “really monumental”. But “one of the issues was that no one really knew that this was happening,” she says...

Fei Sim says that now 60 day dispensing is here, pharmacists need to start working toward the future In the latest AJP podcast, PSA national president, Dr Fei Sim, talks to Carlene McMaugh about how she perceives the immediate future direction for community pharmacy.  With the community pharmacy sector having spent four months in the “60 day dispensing policy vortex”, Dr Sim talks abou...

Dr Sarah Dineen-Griffin speaks about pharmacy’s road to full scope of practice In this podcast, Carlene McMaugh speaks to the NSW government’s clinical pharmacy trials chief investigator, Dr Sarah Dineen-Griffin about what expanding pharmacists’ scope of practice will entail.  Among the topics covered are: (2 min:30) common changes pharmacists across the country can expect to see...

Deborah Hawthorne talks about the new role of the embedded aged care pharmacist In this podcast, our host, Carlene McMaugh, speaks to award-winning consultant pharmacist Deborah Hawthorne, about the beginning of the embedded aged care pharmacy role. Saying she’s “excited about the role”, Hawthorne says there will be “lots of confusion and lots of need for support” dur...

Ahead of next week’s planned Canberra protest, the AJP podcast talks to CAPS volunteers about their fears for the future of the profession due to 60-day dispensing Sydney community pharmacists Christine Kelly and Emil Demyane speak with AJP Podcast host Carlene McMaugh about how the Community and Pharmacists Support Group plans to fight the controversial policy – and why. “We’re just a bunch of in...

Working in GP pharmacy is all about the relationships, says an award-winning consultant pharmacist AJP Podcast host Carlene McMaugh talks with rural Victorian pharmacist and wearer of “many hats” Debbie Hawthorne, who works in a GP clinic as well as in research, with her local PHN, in telehealth, clinical consulting and several other roles. Hawthorne was also named PSA Consultant Pharmacist of the...

Many pharmacies have concerns about the viability of opioid dependence therapies as a result of the recent changes at short notice, Jarrod McMaugh tells the AJP Podcast Victorian branch manager for the Pharmaceutical Society, and its subject expert on harm reduction and opioid dependence therapy, Jarrod McMaugh speaks to AJP Podcast host Carlene McMaugh about in ODT aimed at reducing cost barriers...

PSA national president Dr Fei Sim talks about the latest developments with 60-day dispensing, opioid policy and more  AJP podcast host Carlene McMaugh speak to Fei Sim about some of the more recent developments in the pharmacy policy agenda. Among the topics covered are:  The latest developments in the 60-day dispensing saga Reaction to the Office of Impact Assessment report (2 min 30) Initial tho...

Angelo Pricolo speaks about his experiences in treating addiction, his thoughts on the ‘War on Drugs’ and his thoughts on the future of harm minimisation In this podcast, Carlene McMaugh speaks to regular AJP contributor Angelo Pricolo about his varied career , including his pioneering and leading role in addiction medicine, as well as his time with the Pharmacy Guild and his current w...

One pharmacy owner tells the AJP Podcast about his fears for the future of the opioid dependence therapy program via community pharmacy Morwell, Victoria pharmacy owner Sam Armstrong talks to AJP Podcast host Carlene McMaugh about how changes to opioid dependence therapy went into action on 1 July – starting with how the software his two pharmacies use had a “database error” and wasn’t operational...

60-day dispensing has “essentially blown up” the Seventh Community Pharmacy Agreement mid-term, says Anthony Tassone Guild Victorian branch president Anthony Tassone speaks to AJP Podcast host Carlene McMaugh about the latest developments in 60-day dispensing – including the announcement of the first tranche of medicines to be affected by the policy. “It’s extraordinary that the Federal Government...

Rural pharmacy owner and former young pharmacist of the year Taren Gill gets “fired up” about the changes to opioid dependence therapy, and the impact on rural and regional pharmacy of 60-day dispensing Taren Gill, who owns a pharmacy in Victoria’s western region – in the state’s lowest socioeconomic shire – talks to AJP Podcast host Carlene McMaugh about the host of new changes about to impact th...

Michael Bonner, clinical pharmacist, pharmacy owner and CEO of Choice Aged Care, talks to AJP Podcast host Carlene McMaugh about the “seismic” policy change of 60-day dispensing He’s confident that in the long term, 60-day dispensing will not be catastrophic, but potentially result in a “positive outcome” for the community pharmacy network and patients. But Bonner said that with only two and a hal...

Chief pharmacist with the Capital Chemist Group Andrew Topp talks about the lack of consultation surrounding 60-day consulting, and questions the competence of decision-makers Speaking to Carlene McMaugh for the AJP Podcast, Topp said that the senior staff who run the Health Department, “Quite frankly…do not understand this at all”. “It’s pretty gobsmacking, isn’t it, that this can be dreame...

Kay Dunkley, executive officer of the Pharmacists’ Support Service, talks about the impact of 60-day dispensing on individual pharmacists From a potential reduction in employment opportunities, to having to manage the expectations (and misunderstandings) of the general public, pharmacists on the front line will have a lot to deal with, Dunkley tells AJP Podcast host Carlene McMaugh. “We’re already...

Pharmacy Guild of Australia national vice president, Anthony Tassone, calls on the government to return to the table to discuss ways to address concerns about 60-day dispensing, on the AJP Podcast  Speaking with Carlene McMaugh, Tassone warned that community pharmacies were already planning to cut a range of services, to offset the forecast losses stemming from the controversial Budget measure.  ...

What will 60 day dispensing mean to those at the coalface? Independent pharmacy owner Natalie Kopas talks about what it will mean to her, her staff and her patients What will be the day-to-day impacts of the government’s 60 day dispensing announcement? In this AJP Podcast, Carlene McMaugh talks to Victorian independent pharmacy owner Natalie Kopas about her thoughts around the decision and i...

Carlene McMaugh speaks with PDL Professional Officer Gary West about double dispensing, potential risks and how to get prepared West says that while PDL does not take the representative stance of organisations like the Guild or PSA, it “obviously” has concerns about double dispensing, outlining two potential problems in detail. He says there has been “huge demand and sometimes threats and aggressi...

Manya Angley talks about the recent announcement of plans to ‘flip’ previous funding proposals for pharmacists in aged care facilities  In this podcast, advanced practice pharmacist Manya Angley discussed the federal government’s recent revelation that it plans to reverse previous funding proposals for the ‘Onsite Pharmacists in Aged Care Facilities’ program. In what...

AJP Podcast host Carlene McMaugh speaks with PSA national president Dr Fei Sim about the announcements of both 60-day dispensing and funding for aged care services – both of which came as a “surprise” to the PSA Sim tells McMaugh that when it comes to double dispensing “there was a lack of consultation with the profession” – specifically, the PSA, which was not consulted despite regular meetings w...

John Evans discusses how pharmacy can find its new generation of leaders – and keep the existing ones in a profession under pressure In this episode of the AJP podcast, Carlene McMaugh speaks with John Evans, general manager, pharmacy services, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania for ICON Group Pharmacy, part of ICON cancer care. He’s also the Victorian branch chair of the Society of Hospital Phar...