Accessing pharmaceuticals
If you’ve been affected by the floods and can’t access your medicines, a pharmacist can contact your doctor/s by phone to make sure you can get the prescription medicines you need, even if your script has been lost or damaged by the floods.
Additionally, if you have an immediate need for medication, but it is not practicable to obtain a PBS prescription the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) Continued Dispensing Arrangements allows pharmacists to release a single standard pack of eligible medicine/s without a prescription.
Telehealth consultations also provide a way to obtain digital prescriptions. If you have pre-existing digital prescriptions (e-scripts) you can forward these to a carer or to a pharmacy to be filled. If you have scripts on file with a pharmacy that you can’t access, you can give any pharmacist permission to use the information in your My Health Record to help you get the necessary medication.
Accessing appointments and medical information
If you have an upcoming medical appointment, you should contact your doctor’s office to confirm if the appointment can go ahead, and/or discuss telehealth options. Health staff are also being stationed at the Evacuation/Emergency Centres in some areas to help coordinate access to primary care support, including urgent medical services including prescriptions.
If you can’t access your doctor, Healthdirect provides a health service directory that shows other available doctors in your area. They can also be contacted 24/7 on their health advice line. Ph: 1800 022 222.
For more information on warnings, and support services in your region please visit:
- NSW SES (New South Wales)
- VicSES and VicEmergency (Victoria)
- TasAlert (Tasmania)
Information about financial support available to those affected by the flooding is available through Services Australia.
The Australasian Mastocytosis Society notes that this information is subject to change and recognises it may not be useful to those in areas impacted by a complete outage.
