Changes to the Practitioner Supply Order (PSO) list and rules

The PSO mechanism allows community pharmacies to supply medicines directly to prescribers for administration to patients. Prescribers in general practice use PSOs most often.

The Schedule specifies which medicines are available via PSO. They are generally used for:

• emergency or urgent treatment (eg asthma, diabetes, epilepsy)
• situations where prescribing and dispensing is not practical (eg intra‑uterine devices, contraceptive injections)
• teaching or demonstration purposes (eg oral contraceptives, diabetes meters).

Rural general practices have long accessed a wider range of PSO medicines. Non‑rural practices have historically had more limited access.

General practice has evolved and the current PSO settings outside rural areas no longer reflect how care is delivered. Many practices now have multidisciplinary teams, including non‑prescribers such as nurses and paramedics. In some cases, supplying medicines at the point of care enables earlier treatment.

We have received multiple requests over time to expand the PSO list. In response, we started a one-year pilot in March 2025. The pilot allowed selected non‑rural general practices to access PSO medicines under rural access settings.

The pilot tested whether broader PSO access better supports modern general practice.

Feedback from practices highlighted timely treatment, improved workflow and reduced pressure on prescribers.

The broader range of PSO medicines were frequently used to manage common, high‑demand conditions, including skin conditions, asthma, headlice, allergies, pain, and infections.

Medicines supplied through PSO were primarily used for:

• single episode “see and treat” presentations
• administration that forms part of the practice’s routine service delivery (for example, injection administration)