Profession
Pharmacist prescribing has spread widely, and NSW and Queensland made schemes permanent before their evaluations were published.
Pharmacists can now treat urinary tract infections in every state, and Queensland and Victoria have made wider prescribing schemes permanent. NSW and Queensland made schemes permanent before their evaluations were published, and Victoria announced its decision days before publishing its evaluation summary.
An independent review made 18 recommendations to let primary-care professions work to their full scope. The federal government is now offering states $60m to remove barriers.
Under a new federal interpretation of the Canada Health Act, medically necessary care that nurse practitioners, pharmacists and midwives provide in place of a doctor is to be publicly funded. The policy took effect in April 2026, with penalties from April 2027. Ontario missed the deadline.
Ontario pharmacists now prescribe for 28 minor ailments, after 9 were added on 1 July 2026; Nova Scotia pharmacists can prescribe for conditions including hypertension and type 2 diabetes.
New Zealand's bill would let the Health Minister direct the health regulators on policy and let a ministerial committee overturn registration refusals. Parliament has since been dissolved for the November 2026 election.
Most new UK pharmacists now register as independent prescribers, and a 2025 law lets pharmacists authorise pharmacy technicians to supervise dispensing from December 2026.
No reforms tracked for this country yet.
In Australia, pharmacy scope reforms have been made permanent before any independent evaluation was published. In the UK, physician associates were scaled up with no study of safety incidents. We think that is the strongest, evidence-based criticism of these reforms.
The strongest version of the argument for letting nurses, pharmacists and others do more, written from the reformers' own sources.
Nothing written for this country yet.
AMA Queensland criticises the state government for making its pharmacy scope pilot permanent before an independent evaluation, calling the decision 'disappointing and dangerous'.
Why it matters: The evaluation-gap point is documented and fair. The 'dangerous' characterisation is an assertion.
Professor Mark Cormack's review found almost all primary-care professions face barriers to full scope that are unrelated to their education and competence, and made 18 recommendations to remove them.
Why it matters: A central document in Australia's 'top of scope' agenda, now backed by a $60m incentive for states.
No library items for this country yet.