The AJP Podcast

Australian Journal of Pharmacy
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The podcast by pharmacists, for pharmacists, brought to you by the AJP. Each episode, join a diverse panel of pharmacists from all settings and experience levels discussing topics that affect pharmacists in day to day practice – such as ability & gender diversity in pharmacy, and medicinal cannabis.

  1. MAR 11

    ‘We’ll be strongly advocating for things like removal of caps’

    PSA’s new president flags changes to the profession, with priorities including the negotiation of the pharmacy programs agreement, the new Code of Ethics and the College transition AJP podcast host Carlene McMaugh sits down for a chat with Pharmaceutical Society of Australia national president Mark Naunton, who says that he has “great confidence” in how the agreement’s negotiations are taking place. “There’s a number of things that we’ll be advocating strongly for, and our credentialed pharmacist need to know that they are at the forefront of our minds. “When we are doing these negotiations, our credentialed pharmacists have a great impact in trying to improve patient safety, which is, as medicine safety is as national health priority area, all pharmacists have a responsibility to do this, but under the first PPA, our credentialed pharmacist, those pharmacists doing HMRs, RMMRs, they do need special attention. “There’s been years where they’ve had no increase in their pay. They’re limited by the amount of work they can do, and we know that they do great work, but not all patients are getting benefit from these because there’s caps, for example, on the amount of HMRs that they can do. “So we’ll be strongly advocating for things like removal of caps, indexation of payments, back pay for programs that have not had increases in pay over the last five or six years.’ Highlights include: 01:36 – The sector’s biggest recent achievement 03:36 – How is PSA supporting upskilling as scope expands? 08:36 – Unifying the profession 11:12 – The impact of work on focus areas like palliative care, mental health first aid and vaping reform 14:18 – The Code of Ethics review 17:13 – Advocating for the funding of professional services 21:43 – Key goals for career pathways 24:02 – Naunton’s plans for his first term 28: 23 – PSA’s 2025 achievements 31:02 – What does 2026 hold in store for pharmacists and the PSA? You can access the full transcript of this podcast here. While we endeavour to ensure all important words and phrases are correct, please note there may be some minor inaccuracies in the transcription. ACCESS PODCAST TRANSCRIPT Go here for the full list of active AJP podcasts. These can also be accessed via Apple Podcasts and Spotify  Carlene McMaugh

    36 min

  2. FEB 25

    AJP Podcast: ‘We’re not talking about robo pharmacists’

    Is AI likely to result in a dystopian future for health professionals and patients – or could it be used to free up more hours in the day for pharmacists to do their jobs? AJP Podcast host Carlene McMaugh sits down with Michael Bakker, chief pharmacy information officer for SA Pharmacy, about the barriers to digital transformation for pharmacists, overcoming resistance to change, and what the future might look like. The pair discuss common misconceptions about AI – including that it could replace key health workers such as pharmacists. “We’re not talking about robo pharmacists, right?” says Bakker. “There’s tasks and processes that will be impacted by the advent of AI, but they could also happen with non-AI things. “If we took one task and process just to kind of put it under the microscope, a hospital pharmacy service spends probably about a third of their clinical workforce time on performing medication histories. “And so you could go, ‘well, there’s many different ways that digitally, we could do that a lot better now if we just had better linked data or atomic data around medicines where it’s easy to go, oh, this person’s on perindopril five milligrams once a day, and it’s easy to convert that over to your hospital system. “And you can see the dispensing record for the patient, and if we had all of the dispensing records and prescribing records going up to My Health Record, it’s pretty easy to conceptualise a way where you go, ‘well, I can see that they’re on that regularly. I’m just going to convert that to their hospital medicine and just continue that there’. “That could be done without any AI. “The technology is not the barrier there. It’s the investment and the prioritisation of that development work that needs to be there and having the high quality data sitting in my health record to be able to reutilise it. “They might sound like big things, but they’re quite small. It’s not like we’re waiting for some technology to come along that doesn’t exist yet. “The AI ones that I think scare people is around the decision making and to be able to decide what to do, and the door’s starting to open there as to what that future state might look like to my network.” Bakker told McMaugh he had recently posted to LinkedIn about the United States having opened the policy door to having AI agents being able to prescribe for patients. “It’s just a very interesting concept that it’s not an automated thing that they can do this, they need to undergo all of their approvals through the FDA.” While he is not aware of this happening in practice, Bakker says it poses the question: what would this look like? “Is that going to be an AI agent is taking an action on behalf of say a prescriber when they’re talking to their patient. So they’re saying, ‘I’m going to give you amoxicillin 500mg four times a day’ and then it’s just going to generate the prescription. “And so that’s kind of minimally invasive and risky. You have to prove quality and things like that so that it’s not going to mistake the drug name or anything; or is it going to be far more dystopian where it’s going to diagnose and take action to prescribe a recommended therapy for a patient, which is a little bit more scary? “So not everything is a one or a zero or a yes and a no. “There’s lots of gradients in between in there, and so I think people get very alarmed and rightfully so as to what the really crazy dystopian future might look like and what’s my role going to be in that if these things come about. “But there’s a lot of work in between where we can just see the chipping away at tasks and processes through better technology, that are things that take an enormous amount of time, as good as the pharmacy workforce is at doing these types of things thoroughly… “If we were reviewing information that was presented to us that was kind of curated so that we don’t have to go and do a preliminary history for a patient, then go into the patient room and validate it with them, then come out, reconcile it with what they’re actually on and then get it changed, we can walk straight in going, ‘well, I can see what you’re normally taking, but can you help me understand how you’re actually using these on a day to day?’ “You could be saving an hour a day for a clinical pharmacist that can be redirected into other tasks.” Highlights include: 00:56 – “Digital maturity can mean lots of things.” 02:24 – Getting started 03:27 – Barriers to digital transformation 06:44 – Insights from developing the Australian practice standard for pharmacy informatics 10:03 – How is AI currently being used to manage medicine safety, especially in rural or remote areas? 13:43 – No robo pharmacists 19:22 – How can pharmacists who are not tech experts start to build their digital literacy and become effective champions for changing their workplaces? 22:23 – Retaining the human touch 25:44 – Encouraging buy-in, including from pharmacists who have concerns 28:20 – “Soft skills are crucial.” 29:51 – Using AI to build a strong business case for new initiatives 32:56 – The most exciting emerging AI and digital trends 34:53 – As pharmacy workflows become more digitalised, what new types of dispensing and prescribing errors are we seeing and how can we mitigate them? 37:51 – “Get great at pharmacy first at all areas of pharmacy.” 39:27 – How could pharmacy look in 10 to 15 years? 41:46 – Learning from other sectors You can access the full transcript of this podcast here. While we endeavour to ensure all important words and phrases are correct, please note there may be some minor inaccuracies in the transcription. ACCESS PODCAST TRANSCRIPT Go here for the full list of active AJP podcasts. These can also be accessed via Apple Podcasts and Spotify  Carlene McMaugh

    43 min

  3. FEB 11

    ‘Total reliance on the supply model will not sustain our industry’

    FIP president pays tribute to Australia’s pharmacy practice model, as international jurisdictions champion pharmacist scope Paul Sinclair, the first Australian president of the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) sat down with AJP Podcast host Carlene McMaugh to talk about the pharmacy workforce, challenges like antimicrobial resistance and how best to use AI in health care. There are many positives boosting the sector right now, Sinclair said, including how the pandemic improved pharmacy’s visibility and moves towards full scope of practice. When McMaugh asked Sinclair whether he saw elements of the Australian model – such as expanded scope under the Community Pharmacy Agreement – being eyed by other countries, he replied, “Absolutely”. “As recently as two months ago, the Irish government signed a pharmacy agreement with the Irish Pharmacy Union on behalf of Irish pharmacy to give certainty of remuneration for dispensing and provision of professional services,” Sinclair said. “That very much is in line with the community pharmacy agreements that we have had so successfully implemented here in Australia. “In fact, the PBS, as it operates in Australia, is regarded as the best model for a public private partnership to provide pharmaceutical benefits to the population. “We see across the globe, services such as medication reviews, medication management services, webster packing, pharmacist delivered vaccination, and minor ailment schemes being delivered and funded through community pharmacy. “This is now happening through all of the major developed pharmacy marketplaces, and we are seeing also in FIP’s role, the advocacy of an increased role for pharmacists in emerging pharmacy markets as well in low to middle income countries.” Sinclair said that Australia is “very fortunate” to have a public-private partnership with the government, instead of a fully managed healthcare system as seen in the USA. There, he said, “the payer, normally an insurance company, is focused only on cost rather than health outcomes”. “So the model we have is acknowledged as being world-class, and we are seeing across particularly developed marketplaces where the payer tends to be the government rather than insurance company, models like the community pharmacy agreement being advocated for and being implemented.” Highlights include: 01:03 – “At the moment, the depressing issue is certainly workforce shortages.” 03:43 – The positive outcomes of Covid 05:15 – AMR: a major issue 07:33 – The beauty of the Australian pharmacy practice model 09:20 – FIP’s Global Observatory data 11:26 – “AI is the two letters on everyone’s lips at the moment.” 13:31 – “FIP’s work is centred on creating positive practise environments, safe staffing, fair scheduling, career development, recognition, including mental health support, anti-harassment policies, and psychologically safe spaces.” 15:36 – Integrating pharmacy into diverse global settings 17:08 – Barriers to scope: “It is definitely legislative.” 18:43 – Equity in medicines access and digital health 23:36 – Financial recognition for professional services 25:10 – “The total reliance on the supply model will not sustain our industry going forward.” 31:03 – Advice for young pharmacists 33:11 – FIP’s development goals 34:37 – Hopes for FIP achievement in 2026 37:42 – A legacy for FIP 39:23 – A look back at a “huge” 2025 42:15 – War, conflict and pharmacy – as well as scope and recognition 44:15 – A thank you to pharmacists   You can access the full transcript of this podcast here. While we endeavour to ensure all important words and phrases are correct, please note there may be some minor inaccuracies in the transcription. ACCESS PODCAST TRANSCRIPT Go here for the full list of active AJP podcasts. These can also be accessed via Apple Podcasts and Spotify  Carlene McMaugh

    46 min

  4. JAN 28

    The HMR that saved over $4k a year

    Almost every HMR can make a difference, says consultant pharmacist of the year Angus Thompson The AJP Podcast’s Carlene McMaugh sits down with award-winning consultant pharmacist Angus Thompson, who tells her about how he builds rapport with his patients and helps them get the most out of their consultation. “We are not there to interfere and make changes for changes’ sake,” he explains. “We’re there to help them get the best outcome. I will invariably ask the patient what do they want to get out of the consultation and what’s important to them because I try to keep everything about the patient and align with their priorities and preferences. “Some patients may say, ‘I want to take less medicines’, some people may say, ‘I don’t know what I’m doing. I feel confused’. “So you try and tailor what you do, what you say to reassure them.” And health literacy is a “huge challenge” for many patients, he says – and tells a tale of one man who had Type 2 diabetes. “He’d misunderstood instructions from everybody else he’d ever seen,” Thompson says. “He saw pretty much everybody that a person with diabetes will see: an educator, obviously GP, community pharmacy, dietitian… “He said something about his insulin. I said, ‘just talk me through how you use your insulin’. “And he was using one pen for one injection. He was on 10 units of glargine, giving himself 10 units and then throwing away the remaining 290 units. “And this was simply because somebody had said to him, use a new needle for each injection. “To him, a new needle was a new pen. So he was visiting his pharmacy every 25 days and costing Medicare over $4,000 a year more than was necessary. “It is just the way people understand what we say. It’s really important that we check back that they have understood it in the way we want them to.” Highlights include: 02:22 – Building rapport with patients 05:55 – “Different strategies for different patients.” 07:26 – The impact of HMRs – and the man with Type 2 diabetes 09:05 – A patient Thompson had just helped reassure about her medicines 11:13 – Involving the patient in their own decision-making 14:38 – Misconceptions about HMRs 15:42 – “Very rarely are people taking what we think they’re taking.” 17:29 – When patients are reluctant to change 21:49 – HMRs and vulnerable patients 25:14 – Keeping up-to-date 32:07 – Why the cap needs to go 34:32 – New technologies 38:28 – “Transitions of care are such a flashpoint for medication misadventure.” 40:31 – The HMR workforce You can access the full transcript of this podcast here. While we endeavour to ensure all important words and phrases are correct, please note there may be some minor inaccuracies in the transcription. ACCESS PODCAST TRANSCRIPT Go here for the full list of active AJP podcasts. These can also be accessed via Apple Podcasts and Spotify  Carlene McMaugh

    47 min

  5. JAN 14

    ‘We wanted to create a space where cannabis is treated as a legitimate medicine’

    Community pharmacist and owner of MedWest Medical Dispensary, Keegan Wong, says his passion lies in merging evidence-based medicine with a holistic model of health. Speaking to host Carlene McMaugh of the AJP Podcast, Wong shared his journey to co-founding MedWest Medical Dispensary in Western Australia, and his his practice and perspective has evolved.  “Back when I was working in community pharmacy, I was starting to see more and more patients coming in with prescriptions for medicinal cannabis,” he said. “You think ‘Oh, I haven’t really learned much of this at uni’. “The feedback that I’ve received over time was really eye-opening,” he continued. “People were dealing with chronic pain, sleep issues and anxiety… many of them actually find real relief.” Other highlights include:  4.39: Keegan’s holistic approach.  7.07: The supply challenges in Western Australia.  9.20: Common misconceptions about medicinal cannabis.  16.49: Regulatory concerns and how pharmacists are managing them.  You can access the full transcript of this podcast here. While we endeavour to ensure all important words and phrases are correct, please note there may be some minor inaccuracies in the transcription. ACCESS PODCAST TRANSCRIPT Go here for the full list of active AJP podcasts. These can also be accessed via Apple Podcasts and Spotify  Carlene McMaugh

    27 min

  6. JAN 8

    ‘We push boundaries in patient and community services’

    Professional Services Innovation Award winners Bev Mistry-Cable and Zineb Medrek share the secrets of their success with the AJP Podcast – and what’s next   “I think everybody’s got a slightly different passion, so it’s trying to work out what drives the pharmacies,” Cooleman Court Pharmacy’s Bev Mistry-Cable told the AJP Podcast’s Carlene McMaugh.  The winners of the Professional Services Innovation Award say they have developed a host of programs for different pharmacies to help their local communities.  “My colleague, Brad, implemented Men’s Health Down Under, and he basically helps men with post-prostectomy surgery and also things with erectile dysfunction, things like that,” Mistry-Cable said.    “We also do vaccination services here very well. So they’ve grown in the last five to 10 years, which has been good to see.” Medrek added: “Everyone that comes through the pharmacy, we check with them where they’re up to.” Other highlights include:  4.03: Cooleman Court Pharmacy’s skincare trial.  5.05: Travel health and UTI consultations.  7.53: The promotion of new services.  11.41: Other considerations in implementing new services into the pharmacy.  13.17: How to measure the value of pharmacies in the healthcare ecosystem.  You can access the full transcript of this podcast here. While we endeavour to ensure all important words and phrases are correct, please note there may be some minor inaccuracies in the transcription. ACCESS PODCAST TRANSCRIPT Go here for the full list of active AJP podcasts. These can also be accessed via Apple Podcasts and Spotify  Carlene McMaugh

  7. 12/16/2025

    Why pharmacists need PBS prescribing rights

    AJP Podcast host Carlene McMaugh takes a look back at 2025 with AdPha president Tom Simpson and outgoing vice president Dr Kate O’Hara Speaking during Advanced Pharmacy Australia’s Medicines Management 2025 conference in Melbourne, the three spoke about how residencies can help pharmacists keep getting feedback through their early careers, medicines reconciliation and points of transition, as well as the greater role pharmacists and pharmacy technicians can play in the healthcare system. Simpson explained that “transitions of care is not a problem we have solved in Australia by any measure”. “We did some great work obviously this year partnering with the condition on the practise standards around transitions of care, but we’re also looking at how we expand those collaborative prescribing models at the point of discharge,” he said. “We know discharge summaries and discharge medication lists have a high rate of inaccuracy and there’s hospitals that are already implementing collaborative prescribing models at that point and seeing dramatic reductions, so patients out the door hours quicker with the right medicines. “Our challenge there is that until we have PBS prescribing rights for pharmacists, all the pharmacists can do is write a prescription and ask the doctor to sign it, and that means that you’re still effectively wasting a lot of time because it’s not a value add activity at that step. “If they’ve already agreed the treatment plan, then adding a signature to a page doesn’t add value, but it just takes time.” O’Hara, who has been closely involved in the collaborative prescribing trial in NSW, said that it had been “really exciting this year to see advocacy really pay off”. NSW and WA “are getting collaborative prescribing over the line” in terms of legislation change, she said. “So getting that, working with all of the states to get that through has been a really massive achievement. And in New South Wales, those legislation changes are now fixed in the legislation and they’ve acknowledged that partnered pharmacists prescribing or charting is really key to getting people through the emergency rooms faster and getting those medicines right quicker. “So that’s been a really significant piece of advocacy work that has really paid off for both the profession and for our patients in that space. “So we continue to really advocate for and encourage for pharmacists prescribing to be done in that collaborative way as part of getting pharmacists embedded in multidisciplinary teams to focus on the medicines and give everybody else the time to do what they do best.” Highlights include 01:20 – How have the new practise recognition pathways evolved through 2025? 04:20 – The value of the independent pathway 05:38 – Advancements in empowering pharmacy technicians and assistants 08:09 – The launch of AdPha’s clinical standards 09:33 – How can these changes be scaled nationally to free up pharmacists for higher level clinical duties? 11:42 – The difference between a residency and an internship 16:50 – “Our transitions of care are some of the highest risk points in any patient’s journey.” 20:46 – The NSW collaborative prescribing trial 21:52 – “1.3 billion of wasted expenditure in hospitals” 22:58 – Gaps and loopholes in transitions of care 25:09 – The impact of MedsAware Deprescribing Week 27:23 – How is the integration of electronic prescribing and electronic medical records fundamentally changing the clinical workflow of hospital pharmacists and what digital competencies are now essential for new graduates? 28:38 – “I expect to see digital competencies start to be built into our university degrees.” 32:00 – How is AdPha working with regulatory bodies and health services formally recognised the credential specialist, clinical pharmacists, and to ensure the remuneration and role expansion? 35:05 – “We’ve seen employers as well now asking for ANZCAP recognition as part of applications for jobs.” 36:24 – The gap in seven-day clinical pharmacy services 39:25 – Recruitment, retention and burnout 43:25 – Why are there more vacancies? 44:25 – “One nice trend I’m seeing these days is that there is much more of a portability in the profession.” 46:33 – Hopes and goals for 2026   You can access the full transcript of this podcast here. While we endeavour to ensure all important words and phrases are correct, please note there may be some minor inaccuracies in the transcription. ACCESS PODCAST TRANSCRIPT Go here for the full list of active AJP podcasts. These can also be accessed via Apple Podcasts and Spotify  Carlene McMaugh

    53 min

  8. 12/03/2025

    ‘We are really starting to see the impact of those stricter vaping regulations on the ground’

    On the latest AJP podcast, our host Carlene McMaugh speaks to pharmacist Keegan Wong about the impact of the 1 July vaping regulations  Among the topics covered in this podcast are: The impact of the regulations on the product’s that pharmacies can supply (03:11 minutes) What is the new process for patients to get a compliant product? Has their been an increase in prescriptions for higher concentration vapes? (07:12) What can we advise patients on the different nicotine concentrations and to find the right dose for their needs? (11:09) Are the new regulations curbing the black market? Or are they driving more people to search for illicit products? (14:54) What are the key things that patients need to know about the new regulations and how to access compliant products? (17:48) The next steps in vaping regulation (21:00) Where can you learn more about the changes? (24:59) You can access the full transcript of this podcast here. While we endeavour to ensure all important words and phrases are correct, please note there may be some minor inaccuracies in the transcription. ACCESS PODCAST TRANSCRIPT Go here for the full list of active AJP podcasts. These can also be accessed via Apple Podcasts and Spotify

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About

The podcast by pharmacists, for pharmacists, brought to you by the AJP. Each episode, join a diverse panel of pharmacists from all settings and experience levels discussing topics that affect pharmacists in day to day practice – such as ability & gender diversity in pharmacy, and medicinal cannabis.

Information

  • Creator
    Australian Journal of Pharmacy
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2026
  • Episodes
    144
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2019 AJP
  • Show Website
    The AJP Podcast

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