Case for antimicrobial stewardship pharmacy technicians in Australian hospitals
Ron Cheah
A B H , Arjun Rajkhowa A C , Rodney James A , Kym Wangeman D , Sonia Koning D E , Karin Thursky A C F G and Kirsty Buising A C F
A National Centre for Antimicrobial Stewardship, Doherty Institute, Melbourne, Vic. 3000, Australia. Email: rod.james@mh.org.au; karin.thursky@mh.org.au; kirsty.buising@mh.org.au
B Monash Health, Pharmacy Department, Clayton, Vic. 3168, Australia.
C University of Melbourne, Department of Medicine, Melbourne, Vic. 3010, Australia. Email: arjun.rajkhowa@unimelb.edu.au
D Eastern Health, Pharmacy Department, Box Hill, Vic. 3128, Australia. Email: kym.wangeman@easternhealth.org.au; sonia.koning@easternhealth.org.au
E Monash University, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Parkville, Vic. 3052, Australia.
F Royal Melbourne Hospital, Victorian Infectious Diseases Service, Melbourne, Vic. 3050, Australia.
G Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Department of Infectious Diseases, Melbourne, Vic. 3000, Australia.
H Corresponding author. Email: ron.cheah@mh.org.au
Australian Health Review 44(6) 941-943 https://doi.org/10.1071/AH19236
Submitted: 18 October 2019 Accepted: 10 March 2020 Published: 20 November 2020
Abstract
The pharmacist’s role in hospital antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) programs is known to improve patient safety and the quality of care. Despite this, many Australian hospitals struggle to provide adequate pharmacy AMS program resourcing and need to explore newer models of care. The Pharmacy Board of Australia’s Guidelines for Dispensing Medicines permit suitably qualified, competent and experienced pharmacy technicians to assist pharmacists in ‘tasks in a pharmacy department’. The pharmacy technician workforce is expanding, and there is growing interest in career advancement and expansion of the pharmacy technician role. We propose that the pharmacy technician, a well-integrated member of many Australian hospital pharmacy departments, can play an important role in hospital AMS programs. To bolster AMS initiatives in Australian hospitals, this paper explores the existing evidence for pharmacy technicians in AMS programs and describes how this role may be better supported in Australia.
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