Staying abreast of prescribing safety
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) regularly issues safety alerts, product recalls and medication shortage alerts. These are available via the TGA Product Safety page.
All prescribers should ensure they regularly review these updates and should be aware that it can take time for TGA updates to be reflected in the medication information provided within practice software. There is also a “TGA Alerts” button (circled above) on the HealthPathways WA homepage.
Antibiotic shortage substitution advice
The National Centre for Antimicrobial Stewardship (NCAS) and the Therapeutic Guidelines have developed resources to provide advice on antibiotic prescribing given the multiple concurrent antibiotic shortages. This includes a table from the Therapeutic Guidelines on appropriate alternatives if a first-line agent is unavailable.
No subscription is required. The link can be found on the HealthPathways WA homepage (in the news section), or on the NCAS Clinical Fact Sheets webpage. From the landing page, click on the link indicated in the image (left) to access the table.