Medical certificates from chemists

But the AMA changed its position 180 degrees in the same week in January … on the Monday they were making an argument that sick people should just be able to judge for themselves whether to stay home … and then later in the same week the AMA was arguing that meningitis would rage across the land because the very same sick people had the temerity to get a certificate from a pharmacist.

So according to the AMA it’s OK for people to decide for themselves to stay home (without any great concern that they might have undiagnosed meningitis), but another health professional gets involved and the fabric of society will be torn asunder?

gun street girl said :

Snahons_scv6_berlina said :

Shab – of course the AMA would be upset, after all think of that those $50 notes for 10 minutes work the GP will now loose.

Oh, yawn. Of course, every time doctors object to something publicly, it must have more to do with them being greedy and lazy, and absolutely nothing to do with concerns for patient care.

Actually, the AMA objected to the legislation on the basis that

(a) requiring people to get a medical certificate for every sick day put an unreasonable burden on both doctors and patients – GPs are overworked as it is and often a patient needing to spend half a day getting a certificate is counterproductive:they’d be better off resting, staying warm etc;

(b) the way the legislation was drafted would have allowed a vet to give a medical certificate.

There was no consultation with any of the health professions as to how this would affect their workloads etc.

The AMA’s objection was not really to allied health professionals giving certificates, but they did argue that the type of practitioner ought to be relevant. Should a psychologist be able to give a certificate stating that someone has malaria? How would they know? And if someone does have malaria, shouldn’t they be seeing a health professional who’s able to treat it?

As an employer, would you be happy with an employee taking three weeks off for depression on the basis of a certificate from their pharmacist?

What’s needed is a better system for verifying when people are actually sick. If you have a migraine, or a cold, it’s better for you to stay home and rest til you’re better than spend time in a waiting room for a medical certificate.

Snahons_scv6_berlina said :

Shab – of course the AMA would be upset, after all think of that those $50 notes for 10 minutes work the GP will now loose.

Oh, yawn. Of course, every time doctors object to something publicly, it must have more to do with them being greedy and lazy, and absolutely nothing to do with concerns for patient care.

Skidbladnir said :

Is this the same legislation that would allow us to get medical cerificates from veterinarians as well as nurses, as it used “medical professional” rather than “medical practitioner”?

The legislative change actually happened as part of WorkChoices in 2006. The wording was changed to allow “a registered health practitioner” to issue certificates for short periods of sick leave.

The change was introduced without consultation with any of the 10 or so professions affected and it took two years for the Pharmaceutical Society to consult with other stakeholders (insurers, accreditation boards etc) to work through all the potential issues (mainly concerning indemnity and whether issuing certificates fell within pharmacists’ scope of practice).

Once these issues were sorted out the Pharmaceutical Society’s guidelines were issued in January this and this triggered the AMA ‘s chest-beating. Other professions have yet to issue their guidelines.

So legally, nurses, optometrists and others can also issue sick certificates, but without official guidelines from their professional bodies they could be leaving themselves open to potential litigation and/or deregistration if something goes wrong.

Is this the same legislation that would allow us to get medical cerificates from veterinarians as well as nurses, as it used “medical professional” rather than “medical practitioner”?

I remember hearing some old hag getting all upset by something a few months back on such a topic…
(So I am in true RiotACT form, just reporting something overheard at a cafe, not knowing if its even relevant to Canberra)

Thanks guys, thats terrific news and great responses!
and lol @ 4# – ….

Legislation went through a couple of months ago. I don’t know why any pharmacy would choose not to offer this service – all pharmacies that are open will have one or more pharmacists working there at any one time. (You never have a pharmacy without a pharmacist on duty – otherwise they would not be allowed to sell behind-the-counter and prescription only medicines (aka schedule 3 and 4 medicines)).

They will all probably have a template certificate ready to fill in with your name, and print it out. They may decline to provide this service to you if they think you’re not sick enough though!

Legally they’re allowed to give a medical certificate for one day only. This may be in conjunction with a referral to a GP (either for the same day or some time soon), or immediate referral to a hospital in serious situations.

You can’t ever get a medical certificate from a pharmacist for absences of more than one day – anything longer than one day requires a GP’s diagnosis.

Hope this helps.

It is important to note that it is optional for pharmacists to offer the service.

Some will and some won’t (for a range of different reasons). Just ask your local one if they are doing it.

It was an initiative brought in by the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) after legislative changes in 2006. More info can be found on the PSA website (below)

http://www.psa.org.au/site.php?id=2237

Good to hear it got up. It’s almost impossible to see a doctor and get the cert and get a decent rest in bed. Pharmacists are excellent to consult for standard health issues anyway, so you can kill two birds with one stone. Go home with your cert, and some medications to help deal with the illness. I had a pharmacist fix my sprained thumb some years back. He did a good job and I can’t even remember which thumb it was.

Shab – of course the AMA would be upset, after all think of that those $50 notes for 10 minutes work the GP will now loose.

Dr Smee, Dickson Medical Centre – Bulk Billing 3 minute consultations.

I use him for gastro flu tonsillitus etc, for broader issues I have a GP who knows my history better.

You feel guilt on a self imposed sick day?

I think you are missing the point.

Wow, that’s great!
Can any chemist do that? (as long as they have a registered pharmisist onsite, not just a shop assistant.

I can settle this one. You CAN get a medical cert from some chemists (you might want to have a word with your local).

The AMA weren’t happy about it, but it got up.

Funny you bring this up stray – my boyfriend and I were discussing this exact suggestion yesterday. I didn’t realise that it was actually to be a formal suggestion (that was the inference I got from your post) but I was merely suggesting it to my bf as a good alternative to the public clinics. I am the sort of person that gets numerous colds every year and within my current job I am only allowed a max of 5 sick days off each year without a medical certificate. On those days where you really can’t face work but know within 24-48 hours you’ll feel much better if you rest up, a quick trip to the pharmacist would be perfect. I don’t want to sit in a public clinic for hours feeling worse, or pay $60 just to get my GP to sign a piece of paper! Anyway, sorry I couldn’t offer you more info but if anyone does raise this through the right means, I will definitely back it 100%.