Pharmacists role in ACT's VAD bill needs clarity, guild says

The guild was one of the first witnesses to give evidence as part of a parliamentary inquiry into the ACT's Voluntary Assisted Dying bill.

The ACT's bill allows health professionals to initiate conversations about voluntary assisted dying with people but Pharmacy Guild ACT branch president Simon Blacker said it was unclear whether this included pharmacists.

He told the committee inquiring into the bill pharmacists needed clarity about what they could or could not say to clients about voluntary assisted dying.

"We expect community pharmacists are going to receive questions, if they haven't already, very, very early on in the piece with regards to the ACT community becoming familiar with how this will work and where they may gather more information," Mr Blacker said.

"We just want clarity to ensure what pharmacists can say and do say with what is expected and that we are giving the right information and the right advice."

Mr Blacker said he would like to see pharmacists be considered as a health professional who could initiate discussions about voluntary assisted dying but it was more important the government provide clarity about whether this is the case.

The ACT government will also establish a voluntary assisted dying pharmacy service within Canberra Health Services to help with the scheme. The guild said over time there may be a possibility for community pharmacies to provide voluntary assisted dying services.

Under the ACT's legislation, a person will be able to access voluntary assisted dying if they have an illness that is advanced, progressive, and expected to cause death. A person must be "suffering intolerably" and have decision-making capacity.

The territory's scheme will not require an expected time frame for a death. In all other states it ranges from six to 12 months.

Two health professionals must deem whether somebody is eligible to access voluntary assisted dying. Nurse practitioners can be considered as one of the two health professionals to assess someone's eligibility for voluntary assisted dying. The ACT is the only jurisdiction to include this.

The Australian College of Nursing said nurses were well-placed to adopt this role. The college's chief executive Kylie Ward said it should be "considered as a healthcare intervention" and nurses should play a role, she said the college had advocated for this in all jurisdictions.

"We've strongly advocated in every jurisdiction, and we'll continue to that a second practitioner, be an expert registered nurse or nurse practitioner, for the best interests of the consumers," Professor Ward said.

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The Health Care Consumers Association also appeared before the committee on Monday morning. Consumer representative Adele Stevens told the committee the bill was "too bureaucratic" as people were required to make three requests. She said it should only be two.

"If you go through two requests, it is quite clear what you want," she said.

"The third request would be when you could be when you're very close to dying and people would receive two requests, we would argue, is quite sufficient."

The association said feedback from its members suggested the bill was "somewhat risk averse" and they wanted people with dementia and people over 14 to be included.

"Throughout our consultations, consumers have been consistently determined that eligibility for VAD in the ACT should be broad, flexible, and prioritise access over safeguards, relieving the burden of red-tape, and facilitating more efficient access," the organisation's submission said.

Hearings continue.