A partnership between St Agnes’ Care & Lifestyle and Flynn’s Beach Pharmacy is the first in the Port Macquarie region to adopt a new program that enables pharmacists to work on-site at residential aged care homes.

The government-funded ‘Aged Care On-site Pharmacist’ program was established following recommendations from the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, released in March 2021. The Commission has made recommendations to improve medication management and safety for residents, which can be achieved through having credentialed pharmacists working on-site in a clinical role.

Tracy Baker, Executive Manager Community and Residential Aged Care for St Agnes’ Care & Lifestyle, says it is a big win to have pharmacists on-site in residential aged care homes because it allows clinical staff to easily tap into their medication expertise as needed.

“The link between General Practitioners (GPs), pharmacy and aged care is vital as they each play an important role in the management of medication for residents,” says Tracy.

“Through this program our registered nurses on duty can collaborate and communicate more closely with the pharmacist about the resident’s specific needs and, and in consultation with the resident’s general practitioner (GP), respond quickly to them.”

“Flynn’s Beach Pharmacy has had a long association with the St Agnes’ Catholic Parish Aged Care services – from the early days of Lourdes House (around 1990), providing medication packs for residents – so this new service builds on that strong relationship between the two organisations.”

“Having a pharmacist on-site enables us to offer services such as case conferencing, which may involve the resident’s carer/family as well as the pharmacist, GP, and aged care clinical staff; medication reviews; and vaccination updates,” adds Tracy.

Under the partnership, launched in July 2024, pharmacists from Flynn’s Beach Pharmacy spend three days a week on-site at both Emmaus Home and at St Agnes’ Site (comprising Maryknoll, Mt Carmel and St Agnes’ House) as well as two days a week at Emmaus Village.

Sophie Rourke and Melinda Dalton, owners of Flynn’s Beach Pharmacy, say this program is a natural extension to their service to aged care in the Port Macquarie area.

“Flynn’s Beach Pharmacy has been servicing our local aged care facilities for the past few decades, as well as performing medication reviews with our community patients in their homes for about 15 years, so expanding our service to be on-site at Emmaus and St Agnes’ site residential homes is an excellent fit for our business,” says Sophie.

“What the public may not be aware is that we have a dedicated space and aged care team, comprising of an aged care pharmacist, aged care manager and support team, which specialises in providing medication to our aged care consumers. In total, we employ seven pharmacists, with another set to join the team in January, to meet this growing need in our community,” says Melinda.

“Our team gains great satisfaction from knowing we are working with other professionals as part of a health care team to achieve the best outcomes possible for each resident,” she adds.

Both St Agnes’ Catholic Parish and Flynn’s Beach Pharmacy are delighted to be part of this person-centred and collaborative approach to caring for those living in residential aged care.