Onsite pharmacists are here

Almost all older Australians living in aged care have suboptimal medicines regimens. In fact, 92-99.7 per cent according to studies published in 2023 and 2024.

As such, medication safety and management were identified as critical improvement areas by the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.

To address their recommendation, the government has committed to providing $333.7 million to engage aged care onsite pharmacists – also known as ACOPs – in homes throughout Australia as an ongoing funded initiative. Since 1 July 2024, this funding has started to flow. Are you ready?

Here we provide the most up-to-date information available to help your aged care home prepare for onsite pharmacists.

What will the ACOP role look like?

Some examples may include:

• supporting medicines governance, policy and procedures
• ongoing monitoring of resident medications
• addressing medication-related issues at a facility level
• medication advisory committee participation, or setting up a MAC where there isn’t one.

Functions specifically excluded from the role:

• medicines dispensing, supply, repackaging – such as into dose administration aids – and routine administration 
• medicines transfer from community pharmacy to facility
• setting up a pharmacy within the aged care home.

Does our facility qualify for a funded ACOP?

The funding requires the aged care home to have implemented electronic National Residential Medication Charts or commit to taking up eNRMC within 12 months.

Eligible facilities include Australian-government funded residential aged care, transition care and multi-purpose facilities and those receiving funding under the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care Program. Respite only facilities are not included in this measure.

How many pharmacists will our facility be able to engage?

The number of days a pharmacist can be employed onsite is determined by bed count. For care homes with up to 50 beds, this will be equivalent to one day a week. For home with 51-100 beds, this will be equivalent to two days a week. Facilities with 201-250 beds will have access to one full-time equivalent pharmacist. Any bed number greater than this can access more than one full-time equivalent ACOP in 50 bed increments.

The funding will be available for half day blocks, so a pharmacist may work one full day (8 hours) or two half days (two x 4 hours).

Is the facility required to take up this funding?

No. It is the aged care home’s ultimate decision as to their requirements or needs to determine whether they take up the funding. Residential care homes that do not engage an ACOP can still access residential medication management review and quality use of medicine services – commonly referred as RMMR and QUM services.

Are all pharmacists eligible to work onsite in aged care homes?

Pharmacists will require specific credentialing to be eligible for this funded role.

How does the facility engage an onsite pharmacist?

The aged care home is required to approach a community pharmacy first to provide this service to “support the working relationships already developed between the [aged care home] and their community pharmacy.” There are no known proposed restrictions on this community pharmacy location.

The community pharmacy will be the employer, although the aged care facility remains responsible for all governance and ultimate care of the residents. Therefore, it is essential that the care home is comfortable with the proposed pharmacist and pharmacy. The residential care home does not have to accept any proposal from the community pharmacy.

If the approached community pharmacy declines or cannot provide this service to the satisfaction of the home, the next measure will be to engage an ACOP-credentialled pharmacist directly.

Payments to aged care homes to directly employ a pharmacist will commence in October, with payments retrospective to July.

What does the facility need to do to be prepared to take on an aged care pharmacist?

We – who are all credentialled pharmacists – believe the following will help to facilitate the smooth integration of the ACOP into the residential aged care home:

• pharmacist completion of induction processes
• pharmacist access is required for resident records, medication charts, PRODA, email (if required), and medication resources (AMH, eMIMS, APF)
• introduction to all stakeholders, such as staff, residents and families and visiting health care professionals
• invitation to attend or facilitate medication advisory committees and other relevant committees
• inclusion of pharmacist in relevant governance activities
• develop pharmacist involvement in vaccination activities (optional)
• regular review of the above as this is a novel role that will develop over time.

Is there any evaluation planned?

The department has promised to review engagement along with other evaluation markers at 12 months.

Deborah Hawthorne, Dr Kenneth Lee, and Dr Amy T Page are credentialled pharmacists and researchers at the University of Western Australia

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