ACOP: An opportunity with challenges

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It’s vital to keep your finger on the pulse when it comes to consultant pharmacy, especially with changes to aged care, says one sector veteran – and what about pay?

AJP Podcast host Carlene McMaugh speaks with Dr Jenny Gowan, an industry stalwart and long-time AJP contributor who was honoured with the Member of the Order of Australia earlier this year.

“Try and keep yourself focused, and it’s really good to be multi-skilled and multidisciplinary,” Gowan advises, before discussing the Aged Care Onsite Pharmacist role and what those who are about to test its waters need to know.

“I think it’s really important that people who are venturing into this field know a little bit about what is currently going on and where the transition is going,” Gowan says.

“So where the opportunities are and where the barriers are.” She outlines how the program works with contracting, saying that “multiple pharmacies, pharmacists can have the contracts, but generally that doesn’t work very well”.

Noting that after a GP receives a pharmacist’s report and develops a plan, “which takes them a very little time in comparison to the time it takes us and guess what? They get paid more than us, but that’s a bone of contention,” Gowan explains that turnover in aged care can be fast.

“We don’t have time to do as many as we’d like because we find the turnover in the nursing homes is fast. There’s a lot of people that move on because it’s their final resting place, and we’ve really got about a 25% change at least every year if not more.”

And the problem isn’t lack of interest, or lack of training. Gowan explains what the main limitation is with ACOP, and how she manages it.

Also:

09.32: How does one get involved in aged care pharmacy?

12.52: The process of training

14.06: Why consider a role in aged care?

16.05: The future of the aged care role

26.23: How does this align with scope of practice?

29.05: Gowan’s advice for pharmacists on aged care

32:02: Aged care and pay

37:17: Understanding patients

You can access the full transcript of this podcast here. While we endeavour to ensure all important words and phrases are correct, please note there may be some minor inaccuracies in the transcription.

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Carlene McMaugh

137 episodes

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