Australian Doctor Australian Doctor 30th June 2017 | Page 28

Gut Feelings
Thanks but no thanks:
I don’t need ‘unburdening’
O
Guest
Editorial
Dr Paul Muthiah
Medical co-editor
28
UR pharmacist friends
are at it again. Not
only do they want to
‘unburden’ us poor GPs
by issuing medical certificates, and
administering flu vaccines and cer-
tain childhood immunisations, they
now claim they are perfectly placed
to ‘unburden’ us from having to man-
age uncomplicated hypertension, and,
in doing so, help free up our time for
more ‘complex cases’.
‘Why thank you’ — I imagine they
would love us to gratefully say.
But instead, all I can think is that
allowing a pharmacist to take on this
work is akin to me (a mere GP) say-
ing I could unburden a judge by doing
‘just’ the sentencing part for them.
As you might gather, I’m not too
pleased to see general practice being
fragmented in this way.
My biggest issue is that if I wanted
to be unburdened of some work, then
I’d like to be asked of what, rather
than being told what I need help with
and having the rug pulled from under
me.
Let’s start with medical certificates.
While many GPs don’t really mind the
fact that pharmacists are allowed to
hand out two-day, minor illness medi-
cal certificates, this is still laden with
potential pitfalls.
While it may free up GP time, it’s
perplexing that someone without
medical training is allowed to formu-
late a diagnosis and give advice on
how much time someone needs off
work.
| Australian Doctor | 30 June 2017
For example, with simple treat-
ment and safety-netting, conjunc-
tivitis can be treated with minimal
risk, but we have all seen cases
where a patient presents some weeks
or months after having been to the
pharmacist and sold an irrelevant
product.
Even a straightforward URTI
needs to be examined and I’m sure
pharmacists are not taught ENT and
chest examination skills in univer-
sity.
recommendations on assessment and
monitoring of hypertensive patients
were deemed inappropriate in up to
two-thirds of scenarios. 1
To me this sounds like an epic fail.
Yet, the researchers present these
findings as a glorious pass, declaring
their profession is willing and able
to extend their scope of practice and
take on BP management.
But hypertension is a multifaceted
condition that needs addressing on
many different levels; it doesn’t mat-
IS IT A FINANCIALLY DRIVEN PLAN, WITH
THE SOLE INTENTION OF ‘UNBURDENING’ THE
POCKETS OF GPS WHILE LINING THE POCKETS OF
PHARMACISTS?
It falls beyond their scope of
practice and I’m bemused by how
they can feel comfortable and con-
fident with their decisions regarding
advice.
Now, onto the latest pharmacy
plan to unburden us of uncompli-
cated hypertension.
The sugge