Pharmaceutical Society of New Zealand enthusiastic

Pharmaceutical Society of New Zealand enthusiastic about New Zealand Health Strategy: Live Well, Stay Well, Get Well

The Pharmaceutical Society was pleased to be invited to attend the launch of the New Zealand Health Strategy and the Powering Up Our Future Health Symposium in Wellington this week.

The Society provided in-put into the consultation process which took place before Christmas last year and is pleased to see some key ideas which it shared reflected in the finalised Health Strategy. The strategy has 5 themes that are now providing the focus for aligning the sectors efforts to enable effective, co-ordinated and significant change. The themes are; People powered, Closer to home, Value and high performance, One team, Smart systems.

“It is great to see that the Ministry of Health has prioritised more integrated services delivered in the community so people can get the care they need away from hospitals”, says Graeme Smith, President of the Society.

Working in an integrated fashion with other health professionals is central to the shared Vision 2020 Partnership for Care, Pharmacists and Doctors Working Together developed by the Society in conjunction with the New Zealand Medical Association last year. Not only are pharmacists delivering extended services in the community such as vaccinations, warfarin monitoring and provision of Emergency Contraceptive Pills, they will work in General Practice with GPs and nurses maximising the use of their high level of tertiary education and training.

Pharmacists are also well placed to help address the disparities in health outcomes for some populations notably Maori and Pacific people, those with mental health conditions and people with disabilities because of their accessibility, low relative cost and wide geographic spread.

With mental health in particular, helping patients understand their medicines and assist with adherence issues, has the potential to produce better health outcomes for this vulnerable group. This is where pharmacists advanced medicines expertise comes to the fore.

The Society is also pleased that the newly launched strategy further enables the Ministry of Health’s Medicines New Zealand Implementation plan 2015 – 2020 developed by the Ministry in conjunction with the Society and work shopped together with the Associate Minister of Health, Hon Peter Dunne.

"We also look forward to the release of the Pharmacy Action Plan in the near future which will show how pharmacy can add value to primary care services and to playing an important role in making the Health strategy a reality for all New Zealanders", says Graeme.

ENDS

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