Quality Use of Medicine
The Quality Use of Medicines (QUM) program is a primary objective of The National Medicines Policy.
The National Strategy for QUM addresses challenges and barriers to realising all the benefits of quality use of medicines to improve health outcomes for all Australians.
Quality Use of Medcines means:
- Selecting management options wisely by considering the place of medicines in treating illness and maintaining health and recognising that there may be other options than medicine to manage many disorders.
- Choosing suitable medicines while taking into account, among other things, the individual, clinical condition, risks and benefits, dosage and length of treatment, and coexisting conditions
- Using medicines safely and effectively by monitoring outcomes, minimising misuse, over-use and under-use, and by improving people's ability to solve medication related problems, such as negative effects and managing polypharmacy.
The Moreton Bay General Practice Network offers a Quality Use of Medicines program through the National Prescribing Service (NPS) which assists general practitioners to stay up to date on medicines by providing accurate, unbiased, evidenced based information. The NPS is a not-for-profit organisation funded by the Australian Government. It receives no funding from pharmaceutical companies. Their website has extensive information for both the public and for health providers.
The Moreton Bay General Practice Network employs a NPS facilitator who can visit practices and pharmacies to conduct individual training, small group study meetings, and clinical audits. To organise a practice visit, contact our facilitator or call the MBGPN office on 07 3284 5155.
The current educational topics are Treating the Symptoms of Dementia and Antiplatelets and Antithrombotics in the Prevention of Stroke. Practices should be implementing the new Australian Cardiovascular Risk Calculator for the prevention of stroke. This replaces the New Zealand risk calculator.
There are some useful links and downloads below:
The National Prescribing Service
Pharmacy Guild of Australia
Department of Health and Ageing - Questions and Answers
Pharmacy Guilds Database of Approved Pharmacies
