Major milestone for General Practice and Pharmacists

Major milestone for General Practice and Pharmacists

19 May 2011

For immediate release

General Practice New Zealand (GPNZ) and the Pharmaceutical Society of NZ (PSNZ) are delighted to have signed a Strategic Alliance in Wellington yesterday.

“This is a tangible major milestone in the relationship we have been building over the past 18 months”, say GPNZ Chair Dr Bev O’Keefe, and PSNZ National President Elizabeth Plant.

The primary goal of this Alliance is to facilitate excellent patient care by demonstrating leadership and strengthening the relationships between general practice and community pharmacists at every level - national, network, and local.

"Both our organisations believe a closer working relationship will help deliver more integrated health services. New Zealand faces critical challenges in sustaining an affordable, effective, safe and equitable health service, and we need to work together to meet these.” says Dr O’Keefe.

This is a natural extension of the team approach with doctors and nurses working more closely with their pharmacy colleagues to provide more co-ordinated, patient focused care. Ms Plant says “We recognise and acknowledge the complementary skills and expertise each group brings to patient care”.

The objectives of the Alliance include an alignment of collective strategic objectives and excellence in medicine management. In recognising the need for change, GPNZ and PSNZ look forward to working in partnership.

This national co-operation will strengthen relationships between pharmacists and general practice doctors and nurses at the local network level.

“This Alliance also enables us to work together to achieve maximum benefit when advocating or making submissions on issues of common interest,’ says Dr O’Keefe. ‘We will share information about innovative strategies and collaborate widely in research and shared learning.”

Both organisations acknowledge the significance of this event. “The signing of this Alliance is an exciting milestone for healthcare in New Zealand. We are working proactively to deliver on the “Better, Sooner, More Convenient” patient promise by supporting and encouraging multidisciplinary teamwork across NZ general practice and community pharmacy”

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