National medication and healthcare advice organisation NPS MedicineWise will shut up shop at the end of the year.
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The announcement by the organisation's board follows a decision by the Health Minister Mark Butler, to proceed with the redesign of the Quality Use of Therapeutics, Diagnostics and Pathology (QUTDP) Program, meaning the not-for-profit will no longer receive Federal Government funding.
The organisation's existing functions will transfer either to the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care or to new contestable funding arrangements.
Since 1998, NPS MedicineWise has provided national leadership, education and resources on the quality use of medicines and medicines safety in Australia, working closely with health professionals, consumers and the broader health sector.
Its programs and resources reach GPs and one-third of residential aged care facilities across Australia, and according to the organisation, have made significant and demonstrable improvements to the health of Australians - including through reducing medicines harm, cancers, strokes and other major cardiovascular events.
Recent programs on heart failure, mental health and young people, anticholinergics and falls in older people and chronic kidney disease are among programs that NPS MedicineWise has delivered.
At the same time the organisation has delivered a net return on investment of more than 2:1 to the Federal Government through delivering over $1.1 billion in direct savings for the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and Medicare Benefits Scheme.
"NPS MedicineWise does not agree with the decision to proceed with the redesign. We believe it will prove to be a poor decision, and will make the safe and wise use of medicines in Australia much harder to achieve," says Dr Andrew Knight, NPS MedicineWise board chairman.
Chief executive of NPS MedicineWise Katherine Burchfield, said it was an end of an era and a challenging and extremely sad time for the organisation.
"Over the years, NPS MedicineWise has become a valued "go to" resource for health professionals and consumers in the quality use of medicines, and has built up a unique set of expertise, assets and networks. It is hard not to see this decision as a backwards step".
