SHPA statement to members on NPS MedicineWise
After 24 years championing the quality use of medicines in Australia, the NPS MedicineWise Board has announced their decision to cease the company’s operations at the end of 2022. From 1 January 2023, NPS MedicineWise will no longer receive Federal Government funding to deliver Quality Use of Medicines activities, and existing functions will transfer either to the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (the Commission) or to new contestable funding arrangements.
As a proud member of NPS MedicineWise, SHPA collaborated with NPS MedicineWise on many important QUM projects since the National Prescribing Service was established in 1998, rebranding to its current name in 2010. For a time, the SHPA secretariat even shared offices with the NPS MedicineWise staff based in Melbourne.
SHPA acknowledges this difficult decision for the NPS MedicineWise Board and offer our gratitude to the Board and staff during this challenging time, for their long history of partnership and leadership in QUM. During their 24-year stewardship of national QUM activities in Australia, NPS MedicineWise has contributed significantly to QUM, health literacy and education for Australian clinicians and the Australian public. SHPA was proud to be the very first Australian pharmacy organisation to be a part of the Choosing Wisely Australia movement, which NPS MedicineWise has championed since 2015. NPS MedicineWise resources are used daily by SHPA members in their practice and continuing professional development, and SHPA will advocate for these important projects and programs to continue. Its annual National Medicines Symposium was also a calendar highlight for the SHPA community, with many of our members represented at this national event.
SHPA will continue to support independent QUM programs which place Australians’ health as the utmost priority. SHPA highly respects the Commission’s work, with whom we also have a long history of partnership and a close working relationship. SHPA looks forward to working with the Commission alongside our medical and pharmacy colleagues to deliver vital QUM activities for Australian clinicians and the public and meaningfully address Australia’s 10th National Health Priority Area.
NPS MedicineWise media release →