All Australian states and territories are working towards implementing real-time prescription monitoring solutions, with the aim of establishing a national system. Once established, information about monitored medicines dispensing events occurring in other states and territories may be recorded and viewable in QScript.
The data in QScript is collected automatically from Prescription Exchange Services (PESs) which currently support the transfer of electronic prescriptions and prescription information from medical clinics to pharmacies. When a prescription is issued at a medical clinic or dispensed at a pharmacy connected to a PES, the PES sends a record of the prescription to QScript in real-time.
Relevant health practitioners are required to check QScript for patient records before:
- prescribing a monitored medicine
- dispensing a monitored medicine
- giving a treatment dose of a monitored medicine.
The following health practitioners have access to QScript:
- medical practitioners
- pharmacists
- nurse practitioners
- endorsed midwives
- dentists
- podiatric surgeons and endorsed podiatrists.
QScript captures medicines that have a recognised therapeutic use but may also present high-risk harm. The Medicines and Poisons Act 2019 refers to these medicines as ‘monitored medicines’:
- all schedule 8 medicines (e.g. opioids, alprazolam, nabiximols, dexamphetamine)
- the following schedule 4 medicines:
- all benzodiazepines
- codeine
- gabapentin
- pregabalin
- quetiapine
- tramadol
- zolpidem
- zopiclone.
The Medicines and Poisons Act 2019 specifies penalties that can be imposed if health practitioners do not take reasonable steps to check QScript when required. There will be exceptions in some circumstances, including when treating patients in an emergency. A maximum of 20 penalty units ($2,757 as of 1 July 2021) will apply if a relevant practitioner fails to check QScript when required— unless they have a reasonable excuse.
Learn more about about QScript here—scroll down the page and click to open the full article under ‘QScript – Queensland’s real time prescription monitoring system‘ tab in the accordion.