Pharmacy considerations in the context of COVID-19

Strategies

The Victorian Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the Pharmacotherapy Area-Based Networks are providing advice on a range of strategies to ensure continuity of treatment for pharmacotherapy patients and associated supports for prescribers and dispensers.

These strategies include:

• Lowering the threshold for takeaway doses with reasonable management of risk and benefit
• Increasing the duration of prescription and consideration of staged supply in appropriate situations
• Collection of takeaways and/or stewardship by a responsible third party
• Roster of pharmacies and prescribers in local areas who are willing and able to deputise services
• Expanding access to long acting injectable buprenorphine as an alternative to daily Suboxone
• Prescriber and pharmacy service continuity and contingency planning
• From 1 April 2020 it is mandatory to check SafeScript prior to writing or dispensing a prescription for a medicines monitored through the system as per the Department of Health.

This is a rapidly evolving situation and the PABN COVID-19 response page will be regularly updated.

Your local Pharmacotherapy Area-Based Network is able to assist you to identify pharmacy(ies) who may be able to take on your patients in the event of an immediate closure.

Pharmacotherapy Area-Based Network contact details

Barwon South West

• 03 5564 5815
• [email protected]

Grampians Loddon Mallee

• 03 5338 9142
• [email protected]

Gippsland

• 0458 693 094
• 0409 588 415
• [email protected]
• [email protected]

Hume

• 0418 910 200
• [email protected]

Southern and Eastern Melbourne (Area 4)

Southern

• 0436 031 887 
• [email protected]

Eastern

• 0429 808 317 
• [email protected]

Manager

• 0428 785 371
• [email protected]

North West Melbourne

• 0439 436 772
• [email protected]

Medically Assisted Treatment for Opioid Dependence (MATOD)

Below is advice and clinical guidance related to working in the Medically Assisted Treatment for Opioid Dependence (MATOD) sector during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Advice moderates existing MATOD policy for prescribers and dispensers in relation to: