THE state government’s state-of-the-art real-time prescription monitoring system will roll-out across Victoria next year, as new laws passed through parliament on Thursday.
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The system has been welcomed by the Wimmera Drug Action Taskforce and Nhill’s Millington family – both groups have been lobbying for the system for years.
Margaret and John Millington’s son Simon died from a prescription drug overdose in 2010 and family has been pushing for the system ever since.
Western Victoria Primary Health Network will lead a consortium, comprising all Victorian primary health networks to develop and deliver comprehensive training and education on the system.
The system will provide doctors, nurse practitioners and pharmacists access to an up-to-the-minute database to review prescription histories of patients in their care and enable safer clinical decisions.
It will monitor all Schedule 8 medicines such as morphine and oxycodone – which carry the highest risk of misuse – and other high-risk medicines, including all benzodiazepines such as diazepam.
Once fully implemented, it will be mandatory for prescribers and pharmacists to check the system before writing or dispensing a prescription for a high risk medicine, with some exceptions in certain circumstances.
The legislation also streamlines the existing Schedule 8 permit requirements to reduce duplication and regulatory burden for clinicians. The state government invested $29.5 million in the system.
