National standard for labelling dispensed medicines

Australian Medical Association

GPs who dispense medications need to be aware of the new National standard for labelling dispensed medicines which has just been published.

The standard hosted at Safer naming and labelling is for all health professionals who dispense medicines, including GPs, pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, nurse practitioners, optometrists and dentists. It provides an evidence based approach to presentation of medicines information. It is part of a suite of tools that align and inform standardised and consistent presentation of medicines information in use across health in Australia. Improvements in medicines information provision assist consumers to achieve safe and quality use of medicines.

The AMA has provided input to the development of the standard, and to how the standard may be embedded in clinical practice integrated with other practice guidelines and legislation.

This standard provides guidance for labelling dispensed medicines clearly and consistently. Guidance includes what information to include on the label, where it should be placed on the label, and how it should be formatted to optimise consumer understanding for safe and quality medicine use.

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