Branch Committee members and senior representatives from the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, Queensland have toured a medicine distribution centre to see the operations of the medicine supply chain first hand and discuss latest innovation in bringing medicines to Australian patients.

This behind-the-scenes tour was hosted by NPSA at API’s Berrinba facility in Brisbane, one of the NPSA network’s newest member distribution centres which is equipped with world-class infrastructure and operating systems.

Chris Owen, President of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, Queensland was joined by nine other Guild representatives at the 40,000 square metre site which opened earlier this year and employs 134 people.

NPSA Chair Richard Vincent said, “We are very proud to support Australia’s 5900 pharmacies with safe and efficient distribution of PBS medicines generally within 24 hours of ordering them. This means our community pharmacists can dispense the treatments their patients need when they need them. Our partnership with pharmacy has never been more important as community pharmacy expands its role in prescribing, immunising and providing frontline healthcare.

“We greatly valued the opportunity to showcase the work that NPSA members are doing to manage the full range of PBS medicines and all other allied health products that support a patient’s care. Visitors were able to follow the journey of a medicine from receipt through to order fulfillment, noting the unique nature of each medicine in its handling, picking and packing including the steps in managing high-care products in cold chain storage and the secure onsite handling of scheduled medications through to their dispatch for onward transport to pharmacy.

“Serving rural, regional and remote parts of Australia is a core function for the CSO wholesalers and we were able to share how orders to these locations are picked and packed first each day. We spoke of the increased impact of climate-related disasters affecting rural communities and NPSA members role in disaster response.  

“We continue to work hard with government, pharmacy, medicines companies and other stakeholders to meet the challenges of a rapidly evolving healthcare landscape, an ageing population, the introduction of new generation specialty medicines and global medicine shortages.”

“As pharmacists continue to advance their scope and deliver more frontline health services, the reliability and efficiency of medicine distribution is even more critical,” said Chris Owen, Branch President of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, Queensland.

“This visit has highlighted not only the scale and capability of the systems that support our profession, but also the innovation driving continuous improvement in medicine access. We thank NPSA for the opportunity to see firsthand how their work helps ensure the timely and safe delivery of essential medicines to patients,” he said.

Pictured: NPSA and Pharmacy Guild representatives at API’s Berrinba Distribution Centre, Brisbane