Positive Life NSW

Imagine being able to pick up your HIV medications from a community pharmacy. It happens in other states. Unlike New South Wales, South Australia has a community pharmacy system. This means that people with HIV in South Australia don’t need to go to an outpatients’ pharmacy in a large hospital to get their HIV medications. They can go to a pharmacy in the Central Markets. New South Wales ran a trial of community pharmacies a few years ago, and they proved to be popular and successful with customers. Yet still, several years after the trial has finished, we still can’t access HIV medications from community pharmacies in NSW.

Talkabout asked one person who has moved from NSW to SA about the differences he has found in the system.

You’ve lived in both NSW and SA and can compare the pharmacy systems for S100 (HIV) drugs. How does the community pharmacy system work in SA?

When I was living in NSW it was always a hassle to organise medication. If I was attending Albion Street it was relatively straightforward to go to the pharmacy there, but there was always the issue of understaffing and the effect that would have on the length of time it took to fill the scripts. Once I had moved to the inner west this became even more problematic. I would attend RPA (Royal Prince Alfred) pharmacy outpatients, and there were various factors that would impact on the amount of time it would take to organise. I would always have to set aside a day, luckily I did not work 9-5pm. Even then due to work commitments I would sometimes miss a dose due to the difficulties in accessing this system. Whilst acknowledging that ultimately this was my responsibility, I would often think that someone with less organisational skills would find this process extremely difficult to navigate.

How do issues like distance and/or opening hours make the community pharmacy option more attractive for you?

The pharmacy is in the central Markets in the middle of the city. I will drop the dosette off and arrange to pick up the meds the following day, or later that day. The repeats are kept at the pharmacy and Nick lets me know if I will run out of any medications in the near future. The pharmacy is open normal business hours and Saturdays till 2.30pm. It means I can do some market shopping and then drop into the pharmacy and pick the meds up.

Do you find you receive the same level of care/attention when you get your prescription filled as you might expect to find in a hospital pharmacy?

I think the care and attention is always controlled by the amount of time people have and the hospital pharmacies are always flat out. The thing I like about the current arrangement is its completely normalized; no room for drama. The staff hand over the HIV medications dispensing to Nick but they are always professional, discrete and courteous. There is no distinction in the level of service they provide. I think this cannot help but have a flow-on in the way that I view this condition. Also when I buy other pharmacy items if there is any possible interaction, for example between hayfever medications and protease inhibitors, I can check with the pharmacist.

How much do the scripts cost to be filled?

I pay for three months of meds and then pick them up dosetted from the pharmacy monthly for no extra fee. Although I must say I am under the impression that there is no or very little profit margin in providing this service but I would be willing to pay for one to make it sustainable.

Do you find it easy to get repeats? Can you get three months of HIV treatments at a time?

Yes.

Is patient confidentiality handled well? Has it ever been an issue?

I have never had any confidentiality issues at this pharmacy. At RPA outpatients I was always very aware that I was picking up HIV meds as opposed to picking up medications to treat an ongoing condition. Also I enjoy the fact that it isn't ghetto-ised. I always found it a little weird to be picking up meds and have someone either hitting on me....or not hitting on me. It’s nice to have those two worlds a little separate.

However ease of dating in Adelaide, that’s another story completely!