Culcairn Medical Practice's Dr Rod Bond concerned about NSW plan for pharmacies to prescribe medication

Culcairn Medical Practice owner Dr Rod Bond rubbished arguments from the NSW government suggesting a pharmacy reform, announced last week, would improve access and take pressure off GPs.

Dr Bond said the introduction of telehealth had allowed the country to access care, especially for simple things, quite easily.

"The patient has the ability to make a phone or video call from the comfort of their home and they can speak to a qualified doctor, particularly if they can't get in to see their regular doctor. This has by far been the greatest move to improve access to healthcare in modern times, in my opinion," he said.

"Why do we need to bring our healthcare system down to Third World standards by allowing access to prescription medications without seeing a doctor first?

"Pharmacists have not been through the rigours of medical training, they have not seen the thousands of patients under supervision that all doctors must do before being allowed to diagnose and prescribe in an autonomous role."

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Dr Bond said some patients might be in favour of the reform for its convenience of access to medication to treat urinary tract infections and a range of other conditions, but it didn't make it any safer.

"I think if you want convenience, then allow doctors to have their own pharmacy within their practices, allow doctors to stock and sell medication and employ pharmacists to work as part of their teams," he said.

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners president, adjunct Professor Karen Price, described the scheme as "alarming" and urged the government to put patient safety ahead of pharmacy owner profits.

"Stop this madness before it's too late, this is a recipe for disaster," she said.

Health care is about more than just writing prescriptions and sending people out the door on their way."

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