Improving health service access to critical medicines

An urgent delivery of essential pharmaceuticals for a patient with COVID-19 in Shepparton in August has highlighted how HealthShare Victoria (HSV) works to mitigate impacts on supply for regional and metropolitan health services across Victoria.

HSV worked with suppliers and wholesalers to ensure the medicine, in short supply due to increased global demand as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, was delivered to Goulburn Valley Health.

“Our goal is to secure and manage stock to enable health services to continue providing the best patient care without disruption,” says HSV Acting Director of Surety Kate Warren.

“Risks to supply have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic and collaboration is essential to improve the certainty and security of pharmacy items.

“We also work closely with clinical advisory groups in relation to alternative products or medication options where first-line products are not available,” says Kate.

Collaboration between HSV, the Department of Health, health service pharmacy directors and their teams and other stakeholders throughout 2020 and 2021 has led to more informed pharmaceutical decision-making, stronger medicine supply chains and better patient outcomes.

As HSV’s ability to deliver essential medicines to Goulburn Valley Health has shown, our work with key stakeholders including pharmaceutical suppliers and wholesalers to build reserve stocks and improve health service access to critical medicines is already paying off.

“HSV’s close collaboration to improve the certainty and security of pharmacy items sometimes means we need to assess stock levels at health services and establish a central supply for the benefit of all patients statewide.

Supply surety is one of HSV’s key strategic workstreams and the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of planning to mitigate against emerging risks and the importance of managing them in a timely way.

“Through different phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, when things have changed rapidly, we have also learnt that we need to be capable of delivering solutions quickly and flexibly,” says Kate.

“Alongside planning to mitigate risks, there will always be a need to adapt and respond quickly to issues in a changing environment.”

An earlier story contains more information about HSV’s supply surety focus.