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COVER
In June last year, she spent seven hours in her car waiting for an overturned truck and its load of bananas to be scraped off the Bruce Highway next to Deadman’s Creek south of Proserpine – just one of the more unusual obstacles the 2010 PSA Pharmacist of the Year has faced when travelling to deliver Home Medicine Reviews (HMRs).
The truck rolled early in the morning and when Karalyn arrived at the scene just after lunch the highway was still blocked. Another truck had crashed south of Mackay and the only tow truck in the region was there.
‘I had phone service so I did some paperwork, read some articles and had a nap. I got through at nightfall and saw my patient seven hours late. When I drove back two hours later a Bobcat was still loading bananas onto a tip truck,’ she said.
Koalas, emus, pigs and kangaroos are also road hazards to be avoided. In the mating season koalas are unpredictable and are more likely to run in front of cars according to Karalyn.
Born and bred in Mackay, Karalyn studied pharmacy at the University of Queensland and has worked in many settings over the years including providing pharmacy supplies to lighthouses, ships and mining companies. An early adopter, she was accredited as
a consultant pharmacist in 1997. Active in PSA, she was a Queensland committee member for many years and a PSA National Board member in the early 2000s including several years as National Treasurer.
For 28 years she managed a pharmacy in Mackay.
Her last role there was as professional services manager. However, with the changes that came
in the Fifth Community Pharmacy Agreement the pharmacy struggled to see the value of professional programs with the reductions in pricing and closed its professional programs, making Karalyn redundant in the process.
‘I could see this coming and I established my own consulting company in 2014 to provide medication reviews,’ she told Australian Pharmacist.
Soon she picked up work in the pain management area. Since January 2013 she has been the Clinical Facilitator of the Mackay Pain Support Group. In 2015, she was awarded the PSA Quality Use of Medicines Award for Pain Management.
Just as the business was becoming established the decision to cap HMRs was announced.
‘I was blown away by the announcement that HMRs would be capped at 20 per month because I was performing 50–60 per month. My little consulting company hit a brick wall.’
Networking for success
Since then, Karalyn has networked to build the business.
‘I diversified and looked at other things that I could do. Luckily, I had five nursing home contracts that kept me viable for a little while. Then I started doing more consulting and putting myself out there for whoever wanted to pay for a pharmacist to talk to them.’
For example she works with the Mackay Health and Hospital Service (MHHS) in the Health Pathways Program (HPP) which educates GPs and health professionals about the best pathway for a patient through the health system. It looks at reducing waiting lists, optimising patient care and finding the right health professional for the right patient.
‘HPP has been a great project because I have been able to have a lot of input into the role of community pharmacists and consultant pharmacists in patient health. Unfortunately it is an unpaid job but it has given me the opportunity to meet and work with people who use my services for HMRs and other projects.
‘It is one of those jobs that you take on because it leads you places. It pays dividends in terms of networking.’
She also presents QUM lectures. For example, the MHHS asked her to present to patients undergoing bariatric surgery about medications before, during and after surgery.
HMRs in western Queensland
HMRs remain at the core of Karalyn’s business. She has focussed on becoming consultant pharmacist to western Queensland and regularly travels to isolated towns such as Clermont, Dingo, Blackwater, Springsure, Capella and Moranbah.
‘I do a lot of work on the Gemfields. I go as far
as Belyando Crossing south of Charters Towers. These are very rural areas so the patients are quite scattered. I enjoy the work. It is really diverse. GPs in the region come and go. It is very hard to keep them for very long.
‘The patients access many specialists by travelling long distances or by Skyping through Telehealth. The patients have a multitude of problems. It is very rewarding, hard work and a lot of travel.’
The travel comes with challenges not present in urban areas. Often the HMR appointments are out of town so after a long drive to get to the town she has to tackle dirt roads to find her patient’s home.
Australian Pharmacist January 2017 I ©Pharmaceutical Society of Australia Ltd. 23