Purple Pen Podcast

Jane spoke to Paul Tait, lead Palliative Care Pharmacist for the Southern Adelaide Local Health Network

• The differing presentations of palliative care patients.

• Interventions to improve access to end of life medicines for community palliative care patients.

• Useful resources for health professionals.

Jane and Dan spoke to Kate O'Hara, Lead Pharmacist for Women, Youth and Children at The Canberra Hospital.

We talk about:

• The many ways that paediatric patients are different to adults
• Pharmacokinetic differences between adults and children
• Off-label use of medicines in paediatrics and the associated practicalities

At the recent 2017 SHPA Residency Symposium, Dan joined Beth Ward, Foundation Program Manager at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and Ian Coombes, SHPA Vice President and Director of Pharmacy at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital to discuss plans and programs to support and develop our workforce.

Jane sat down with Dr Chris Leung from Austin Health. Chris is a gastroenterologist, medical lead for clinical education and local clinical lead for Choosing Wisely.

• the reasons why proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are in the top 10 most commonly prescribed medicines in Australia
• the problems associated with long-term PPIs
• The general principles of the Choosing Wisely campaign in Australia

Dan sat down with Nashwa Masnoon, a PhD student at the University of South Australia and pharmacist at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, and Professor Sepehr Shakib Director of Clinical Pharmacology at the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

Nashwa and Sepehr spoke to Dan about a new web-based tool that they have developed: WIPE (What is Polypharmacy Exactly?).

The WIPE tool is being used to gauge opinions of Australian clinicians about what polypharmacy means in practice. Users are presented with cases and asked to rate the risk of medicine-related harm. The results will be used to inform a working definition for polypharmacy in Australia.

You can access the WIPE tool here: wipe.logicsquad.net/signup

Jane and Dan spoke to Dr Rohan Elliott, senior pharmacist in aged care at Austin Health, adjunct senior lecturer at Monash University, and a research consultant with the Royal District Nursing Service Institute.

We talk to Rohan about:

· The definition of geriatric medicine, and what it means to be frail

· How the geriatric medicine approach differs from other specialties

· Decision making in geriatric medicine

Jane and Dan talk to Hao Vo-Tran, a pharmacist at the Royal Women's Hospital in Melbourne and editor of the Royal Women's Hospital Pregnancy and Breastfeeding Medicines Guide.

• General principles in evaluating the safety of medicines in pregnancy and breastfeeding.
• Limitations of the TGA categorisation system for prescribing medicines in pregnancy
• Strategies for discussing risks with patients

Jane and Dan chat to Dr Jacinta Johnson, Specialist Pharmacist, Clinical Educator and Lecturer in Pharmacy at the University of South Australia.

We talk to Jacinta about

• The risks from codeine and the reasons behind the decision to reschedule it to a prescription-only medicine.
• Whether or not there is a role for codeine as an analgesic.
• Alternative non-prescription analgesic options

Jane sat down with Gillian Swinnerton and Jerry Yik from the Pharmacists' Support Service.

We talk about the Pharmacists' Support Service (PSS) and the help that they provide.

To contact the Pharmacists' Support Service call 1300 244 910

Jane and Dan chat to Dr Jo Grace, a gastroenterologist and hepatologist from Austin Health.

We talk to Jo about:

• What we have learned from 12 months of subsidised Hep C treatment in Australia
• Clinical considerations when treating patients with direct acting antiviral agents
• Future directions in hepatitis C: long term outcomes and new pangenotypical treatments