Provision of non-prescription medication by community pharmacists in Western Australia

[Truncated abstract] In Australia, community pharmacies are the main provider of medication to the public. Medication is provided either on prescription from another health care professional or through a direct request from the consumer to the pharmacist. When a patient obtains medication from a pharmacist without a prescription (non-prescription medication) the patient is choosing the pharmacy as their primary health care provider. In this situation the pharmacist and staff under their supervision are responsible for performing this role. The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, in line with international professional pharmacy bodies, has employed measures to ensure community pharmacies provide non-prescription medication in accordance with Quality Use of Medicines principles. Such measures have been designed to enable consumers to use medicines safely and effectively. Specifically, these measures have included the development of a generic standard for the provision of non-prescription medicines, product-specific protocols to aid in supply of particular medications for specific conditions, and a unique written assessment checklist for the supply of emergency hormonal contraception. This research investigated the current practice of community pharmacy staff when handling requests for non-prescription medication. Simulated patient methodology was chosen to assess the practice behaviour of community pharmacy staff in Perth, Western Australia. The methodology demonstrated good internal validity, was reproducible, and the data-collection technique was unlikely to alter practice behaviour...