Pharmacies affected by emergency or disaster events 012-61020090

If patients do not have their Medicare, Department of Veterans' Affairs or Centrelink card, the pharmacist should call the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) general enquiries line (press option 1), for assistance with a patient's Medicare or concessional entitlement details.

See PBS general enquiries line in Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) - general enquiries.

A patient can receive a 3 day supply of medication without a prescription. This is not a PBS arrangement and pharmacists must dispense in accordance with state or territory emergency supply provisions.

Dispense using the 'owing prescription' provision.

In a case of urgency, an approved pharmacist may only supply a PBS medication without a prescription if:

• the PBS prescriber has advised the approved pharmacist of the prescription details, and
• in the case of authority required medicines (including streamlined items) the required approval number has been communicated to the approved pharmacist

The prescriber must provide the approved pharmacist with the original valid prescription no later than 7 days to comply with the current legislation. See the References page for more information.

See Prescriptions and claims for the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).

The pharmacist can provide another supply if the medicine required is within 4/20 day rule, but must endorse the prescription with the words 'immediate supply necessary' and sign the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) prescription.

This is an initiative that enables the provision of an eligible medicine to a person by an approved pharmacist, under specific circumstances. Requirements include:

• the patient must previously have been prescribed this medicine, and
• the pharmacist must be satisfied that it is urgently needed and it is not practicable to obtain a new prescription

See Continued Dispensing of Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) Medicines in Defined Circumstances.

If prescribers contact the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) and Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (RPBS) Authority lines, and the prescription falls under the 'too soon' rule (because of the loss of an approved authority prescription or valid repeats), Services Australia will exempt these patients from the 'too soon' rule and approve the Authority. If the Authority line is unavailable, a message will indicate the process to be followed by prescribers - to endorse the prescription with the words 'emergency authorised by Services Australia', with a date, time and signature.

See:

• Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) - Authority approvals
• VAPAC Authority approvals - RPBS Schedule, and
• Handle emergencies and complaints on Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) Authority line

Pharmacists seeking to temporarily relocate their approved pharmacy due to damage from flood or cyclone should send an email to the Department of Health and Aged Care, Pharmacy Approval Section quoting:

• the name of the pharmacy
• their current Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) approval number
• current address of current premises, and proposed address of temporary premises
• expected timeframe for return to the approved premises

There are certain conditions for pharmacies to supply PBS medicines from alternative premises. Any enquiries of this nature should be directed to the Department of Health and Aged Care.

The pharmacy should notify Health within 14 days of operating the pharmacy from alternative premises.

Pharmacies can have their PBS stationery delivered to the Health approved alternate address. They do this by editing the delivery address details when placing orders in the PBS Stationery Online Ordering System (PSOOS). PSOOS is accessed through Health Professional Online Services (HPOS).

The Department of Health and Aged Care monitors Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) supply arrangements in flood and cyclone affected areas to ensure that patient access to essential medicines continues during a period of emergency.

If a pharmacy has lost or damaged prescriptions or claim related paperwork due to circumstances outside of their reasonable control, they can complete a Statutory Declaration that includes a statement about the lost or missing paperwork. The declaration should include information about the nature of the loss, such as natural disaster. The pharmacy will need to retain this for a period of two years for audit and verification purposes.

Pharmacists can download a Statutory Declaration form from the Attorney-General's Department website or purchase one from any post office or newsagent. Services Australia can only accept Commonwealth of Australia Statutory Declaration forms from these sources.

See the Resources page for a link to the Attorney-General's Department website.

If claiming manually, a completed Statutory Declaration with other supporting information can be sent to Services Australia for processing. For example, after a claim period has closed.

For more information about processing Statutory Declarations, see Prescriptions and claims for the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).

Site offices may receive calls from pharmacists who have been affected by a declared State emergency or disaster, and are enquiring as to what they need to do in regard to their current pharmacy, for example relocation, temporary closure, and so on. See Emergency relocation of a pharmacy for more information.