For prescribers

Capability

A registered Victorian pharmacotherapy dispenser. The service-level capability is:

• Supervised dosing for prescriber-authorised pharmacotherapy, oral and long-acting injectable, in a private area separate from the retail floor.
• Seven-day dosing, including evenings and weekends. Current dosing hours are on the Dosing hours page.
• Staged supply and takeaway management, using the Department of Health takeaway-dose appropriateness checklist jointly with the prescriber, with takeaway storage and safety advice given to the patient at the point of supply.
• On-site long-acting injectable pharmacotherapy administration by a trained pharmacist, where prescribed and clinically appropriate, with cold-chain handling and post-administration observation.
• Missed-dose and after-hours dose contingency, worked through with the prescriber rather than left to the patient.
• Take-home naloxone supplied free under the Commonwealth program, with brief overdose-response training for the patient and a support person.
• Transfers, and visiting and interstate continuity, subject to current capacity.
• Harm-reduction support, including warm referral to needle and syringe program services.
• Blood-borne virus support: awareness information and warm referral to hepatitis C, hepatitis B and HIV services.
• A mental-health and AOD referral pathway, with active GP, nurse-practitioner and AOD-service liaison.

SafeScript is checked at every relevant supply.

Capacity

Live capacity status is displayed on this page and on the public hub. We update it weekly and on change. If the status says we can place a patient, we can.

How to refer

Use the structured referral form. You fill in a short template, and it loads a ready-to-send referral email in your own email program. We confirm acceptance within the SLA stated in the Communication section below. You are also welcome to phone the dosing pharmacist.

What we need:

• Your name, AHPRA registration number, clinic and contact.
• Patient initials and date of birth (please do not send full identifiers in unsecured email).
• Urgency (routine or urgent).
• Referral type: new, transferring, visiting/interstate, or long-acting injectable specific.
• Current dose and prescription details where known.
• Any clinical notes that bear on dosing (e.g. concurrent SafeScript-monitored medicines, takeaway considerations, co-occurring conditions).

How we communicate with you

This is the commitment we keep, as the standard of this service:

• A single named contact: the dosing pharmacist on duty, reachable on the published line.
• We confirm acceptance of a referral within 2 business hours during dosing hours, and acknowledge every referral the same business day.
• We contact your patient within 24 hours of accepting the referral to arrange their first dose.
• We proactively report missed doses, vomited doses and clinical concerns by close of business on the same day.
• We do not require you to chase us.

We track this commitment internally and audit it monthly.

Clinical governance

We operate to the current Victorian pharmacotherapy policy and its supporting resources.

• SafeScript checked at every relevant supply.
• Department of Health takeaway-dose appropriateness checklist used for every takeaway decision, jointly with the prescriber and documented.
• S8 controlled-drug register maintained per the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Regulations 2017, with transactions recorded at the time of supply, at least daily.
• SOPs for dosing, takeaway risk assessment, transfers, visiting, long-acting injectable administration, naloxone supply, and prescriber liaison.

Named pharmacists with VOPP training and long-acting injectable administration training.

Long-acting injectable pharmacotherapy

Long-acting injectable pharmacotherapy is a declared core capability at this pharmacy. A trained pharmacist administers it in a private consult space, on a valid prescription, with cold-chain handling and observation according to current product information. We remain clinically engaged with patients throughout the arrangement.

No separate pharmacy administration fee is charged to the patient for this program.

Shared care and the local network

We engage the local Pharmacotherapy Area-Based Network for Melbourne West, and maintain warm referral pathways with local GP clinics, nurse practitioners, AOD and mental-health services. We will, where appropriate, route patients we cannot place to another service rather than discharging them with no next step.

Cost to your patient

No additional pharmacy dosing or dispensing service fee is charged to the patient for this program. Medicine-specific cost, PBS Safety Net position and concession status should be checked against the patient's current prescription and Medicare details.

Capability pack

A detailed capability pack is maintained for prescribers and health services. Because it is written for health professionals, and may name specific medicines and set out clinical protocols, it is provided directly to verified health professionals rather than published on this public page.

To request it, contact the dosing pharmacist with your name, AHPRA registration number and practice. We confirm your registration before sending the current pack. This keeps the pack a communication directed exclusively to health professionals.

Resources for prescribers

We signpost; we do not teach prescribing.

• RACGP MATOD (Medication-Assisted Treatment of Opioid Dependence training).
• Current Victorian pharmacotherapy policy and supporting resources (health.vic.gov.au).
• Pharmacotherapy Area-Based Network (pabn.org.au).
• Turning Point for clinical advice and consultancy.
• SafeScript.