New South Wales Consolidated Acts

PHARMACY PRACTICE ACT 2006 - SECT 37

37 Meaning of “unsatisfactory professional conduct”

(1) For the purposes of this Act, "unsatisfactory professional conduct", in relation to a registered pharmacist, includes any of the following:

(a) any conduct that demonstrates that the knowledge, skill or judgment possessed, or care exercised, by the pharmacist in the practice of pharmacy is significantly below the standard reasonably expected of a pharmacist of an equivalent level of training or experience,

(b) a contravention by the pharmacist of a provision of this Act or the regulations or of a condition of the pharmacist’s registration,

(c) practising pharmacy for remuneration in the course of employment by, or in association with, a non-pharmacist,

(d) a failure without reasonable excuse by the pharmacist to comply with a direction by the Board to provide information with respect to a complaint under this Part against the pharmacist,

(e) a failure by the pharmacist to comply with an order made or a direction given by the Board or the Tribunal under this Act,

(f) a contravention by the pharmacist of section 34A (4) (Power of Commission to obtain information, records and evidence) of the Health Care Complaints Act 1993 ,

(g) the supply of precursor drugs, or preparations, admixtures, extracts or other substances containing any proportion of precursor drugs, by the pharmacist in circumstances where the supply of those drugs, preparations, admixtures, extracts or other substances is unnecessary, not reasonably required, or excessive,

(h) any other improper or unethical conduct by a pharmacist in the course of the practice or purported practice of pharmacy (including, for example, commission of sex or violence, or drug related, offences).

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1) (c):
"non-pharmacist" means a person or body who is not a registered pharmacist, but does not include any of the following:

(a) the Crown,

(b) a public health organisation or a charitable or philanthropic institution,

(c) a pharmacists’ partnership or pharmacists’ body corporate,

(d) a friendly or other society that owns a pharmacy business as permitted by section 26,

(e) a body corporate that owns or carries on a pharmacy business under section 27,

(f) a person who has a pecuniary interest in a pharmacy business as referred to in section 25 (4) or (5) and who carries on that business,

(g) a person who, in assuming the administration of the property of another person under a security interest granted in respect of that other person’s pharmacy business, carries on that pharmacy business,

(h) any person or body that has been approved in writing by the Board for the purposes of this paragraph.

(3) The Board must not grant approval under paragraph (h) of the definition of "non-pharmacist" in subsection (2) unless it is satisfied that it is in the public interest (not including the interests of registered pharmacists) to do so.

(4) The Board may impose any conditions that it thinks fit on an approval under subsection (2) (h) and may vary or revoke any such approval, or any condition imposed on any such approval.

(5) For the purposes of subsection (1) (g):
"precursor drug" has the same meaning as "precursor" has in section 24A of the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 .

Note: Part 11 makes it an offence for a person who employs a registered pharmacist to direct or incite the pharmacist to engage in conduct in the course of professional practice that would constitute unsatisfactory professional conduct or professional misconduct. That Part also enables the Director-General to prohibit persons who have been convicted of, or made the subject of a criminal finding for, such an offence from operating a business that provides pharmacy services.