Bundaleer care home in Wauchope change NSW laws on emergency medication

Karen Slater, manager of clinical governance, quality and research, explained that under the NSW Poisons & Therapeutic Good Regulation from 2008, they couldn't legally hold emergency medications at Bundaleer Gardens Hostel.

"That's because before July 1 2014, all the beds were classified with low care bed licences.  But a lot can happen in almost five years, and with ageing in place now, over 75% of our residents are classified as high care through the Aged Care Funding Instrument," she said.

Up until now, residential aged care facilities could only supply residents with medicine on a prescription from a GP, and the registered nurse at Bundaleer couldn't hold appropriate supplies of emergency drugs, like morphine, or antibiotics to treat respiratory, wound and urinary tract infections.

"So, if a resident develops an infection or requires palliative care on a Friday night, our RNs do not have access to S8 drugs or antibiotics that would alleviate our resident's pain and suffering, which, as you can imagine, was just not good enough" said Ms Slater.

This week, Bundaleer received a letter from NSW health minister, Brad Hazzard, advising that in response to the request from Bundaleer Care Services, he has made changes to the Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Regulation 2008 to now allow all NSW residential care homes approved under the Commonwealth Aged Care Act of 1997 to hold a range of urgent-use medications.

"The medications include oral antibiotics and end-of-life treatments, and are for use whilst awaiting the resident's own supply being obtained from a retail pharmacy.  It means that our residents can now receive vital medications without delay, relieving unnecessary pain and suffering," said Ms Slater.