Chemist Care Now allows Victorians to receive some treatments at a local chemist without needing to see a doctor to get a prescription first.
You can visit a chemist for a resupply of some types of hormonal contraception, treatment for uncomplicated urinary tract infections, treatment for shingles, treatment for impetigo (school sores), treatment for flare up of mild plaque psoriasis or to access travel health and other vaccinations.
It is free to see a pharmacist to receive care for shingles, impetigo, resupply of treatment for flare-up of mild plaque psoriasis, uncomplicated urinary tract infections and resupply of hormonal contraceptives.
Medication supplied will be charged at full price, which may be more than what you would pay if you had a prescription from a doctor. The medicine cost may also vary between chemists. Speak to your pharmacist to understand your options.
For the travel health and other vaccination service, chemists may charge a consultation fee and the cost of any vaccines given. The cost of the consultation and the vaccines may vary between chemists.
Contact the chemist before your visit to check the services available and to see if you need to book an appointment.
Chemist Care Now is part of the Community Pharmacist Program, supported by the Victorian Government.
Before and during your consultation, the pharmacist will ask you questions to help them decide if they can treat you.
Your age, your sex and the details of your condition and medical history will help the pharmacist decide if they can treat you or if you need a referral. A referral is usually a letter to a doctor or another healthcare provider to ask them to see you.
Costs
It is free to see the pharmacist to receive care for:
shingles
impetigo
Resupply of treatment for flare-up of mild plaque psoriasis
urinary tract infections
resupply of hormonal contraception.
Medication provided under the program is not subsidised. This means you will pay the full cost of the medicine. The cost of the medicine might be more than what you pay with a doctor’s prescription.
Medication prices are set by the chemist and may vary between chemists.
Ask your pharmacist about the costs before starting the consultation.
Note that the costs of medicines supplied as part of the program will not contribute to your Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme (PBS) Safety Net threshold. If this is important to you, you may prefer to see a doctor instead of continuing with the pharmacist consultation.
Travel healthcare consultations and vaccinations
For travel healthcare consultations and vaccinations, chemists may charge a consultation fee, and you will be charged the cost of any vaccines provided.
The cost of the consultation and the vaccines may vary between chemists.
The pharmacist will discuss all fees with you before starting the consultation and before giving any vaccines.
Booking a consultation
Some chemists will require a booking for a consultation with a pharmacist.
Others will allow walk-in consultations, or a combination of both.
Some will only offer the program services at set times, or on particular days.
Contact your local chemist or visit their website to check:
what services they offer
if a booking is required or if you can visit without making a booking.
To ensure you receive safe and appropriate care, your pharmacist will meet with you in a private consulting room.
They will explain the program and ask for your consent to be part of the program and to have your information collected.
They will ask you questions about the care you need to help them decide if they can treat you or your child, or if they need to refer you or your child to a doctor.
Following your treatment, if you provided your contact details to your pharmacist during the consultation, you will receive a short survey via SMS or email from the Department of Health to ask about your experience of using Chemist Care Now.
If you are worried about your condition, medications, side effects or have other concerns, you should see a doctor.
While the pharmacist can help you with specific conditions, your doctor is still the best person to see about your overall health and any serious health conditions.
What to bring to your consultation
Information about any medications you are taking for the consultation.
If you need a resupply of hormonal contraception, you will need to bring your old prescription, or some of the medication in its box. A chemist may have a record of this information if it is the chemist you go to regularly.
Language support
Check the local signage in the chemist or ask them about the languages they can offer. You can also download the fact sheet in your language.
Chemists have met strict requirements to join Chemist Care Now.
As part of the program, pharmacists are required to undertake specific training to deliver these services.
The pharmacists will follow clinical management protocols to guide their decision-making. These protocols have been developed by Safer Care Victoria in consultation with medical and pharmacy experts and are based on international best practice.
How your information will be used
Your pharmacist will collect information about you and your consultation in the same way your doctor keeps a record of your visit when you see them. This information is kept safely in the computer systems used by the chemist.
With your consent, the information about your treatment can be shared with your My Health Record and your regular doctor (if you have one).
You can still receive treatment even if you do not consent to share your information with your My Health Record or your doctor.
Program monitoring and evaluation
The Victorian Department of Health is monitoring the delivery of this program.
You will be asked to consent to sharing information with the department to allow them to monitor and evaluate the program. The department will monitor the program using general information but will not access any medical or identifying information on individual patients.
You will also be asked to consent to have your contact number and email address shared with the department to assist with the service evaluations.
If you do consent to this, you may be sent a short survey to seek your feedback on the services you received.
If you don’t want to be part of service evaluation, you can still receive treatment as part of the program.
Your pharmacist will explain the consents to you in detail and a patient information sheet will be available to help you make an informed choice.
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