North Yarra Community Health

Research into Medicine UseThe NYCH Pharmacy (located at the Collingwood Centre) is the only Pharmacy within aCommunity Health Centre in Victoria, and it provides many direct benefits to our clients. It alsoenables us to examine and compare our prescribing of medicines with the rest of Australia,and during the year we asked Associate Professor Libby Roughead, Director of the QualityUse of Medicines and Pharmacy Research Centre at the University of South Australia to dojust that. This study found that not only was our service significantly more cost effective perprescription dispensed, but importantly that we were providing a service more in keeping withbest practice guidelines.NYCH CQI Co-ordinators Georgina Latimer and Libby WalkerChronic DiseaseManagementOne example is in our prescribing of antibiotics, which is at a much lower level than thenational average. The study concludes that, “Antibiotics are recognised as being overprescribednationally, with wide-spread use for viral infections, where antibiotics are notindicated. Antibiotic use at the North Yarra facility is much lower than the national estimates.”Our Doctors and Pharmacists are justifiably proud of the results of this study!With funding from the North East Metropolitan PrimaryCare Partnership, NYCH was able to employ NaomiKubina one day per week for a year to work with usto improve our service response to long-term illness.Whilst Naomi had many discussions with staff acrossthe organisation and ran some terrific professionaldevelopment sessions for staff, most of her workfocussed on two projects with the Chronic ConditionsTeam and the Aged and Disability Team.The focus of both projects is to work with our clients toassist them to manage their health as well as possibleand set personal goals to improve their health. The roleof the NYCH staff members then becomes supportingclients to achieve these goals through a range ofachievable strategies with well coordinated services.The pilot projects are yet to be completed as theyinvolve some long term reflection on the impact of thechanged approach.Coordinated services require good communicationbetween the doctors (at NYCH and elsewhere) and theother health professionals at NYCH. We have beenworking on a project supported by the Department ofHealth to introduce a communication system betweenthe health professionals and doctors which will makesure that each of the workers seeing an individual clientat NYCH has all the information about your goals andtreatment in a simple document.Antibiotic utilisationPrescriptions per 100 persons60504030201002006 2007 2008 2009Collingwood siteNationalNORTH YARRA COMMUNITY HEALTH 2010 - 2011 COMMUNITY REPORTSupplies in the NYCH Pharmacy11