Background
The Enterprise Chemotherapy Prescribing System (ECPS) is South Australia’s statewide digital platform designed to support the safe, effective, and efficient delivery of systemic cancer therapies. To strengthen regional chemotherapy services and ensure equitable access to specialist pharmacy support, a senior cancer pharmacist position was established within the Regional Cancer Pharmacy and Cancer Medication Management (CMM) teams. Based in metropolitan Adelaide, this hybrid role provides remote and on-site support to six Regional Local Health Networks (RLHNs). Key responsibilities include chemotherapy verification, clinical review and clinical support.
This model integrates cancer pharmacy expertise with digital health systems to improve the safe use of high-risk cancer therapies, strengthen communication between metropolitan and regional centres, and ensure alignment with statewide policies, ultimately enhancing health outcomes for regional patients.
Methods
A retrospective review of activity between January to May 2025 was undertaken. Data was collected on the number of ECPS protocols built, training sessions delivered, and the source and type of clinical queries received.
Impact on Practice
During the five months, 125 users completed ECPS training, including 92 metropolitan and 33 regional staff. RLHNs accounted for 18.5% of total queries received by the CMM team, with the highest volumes from South Coast, Whyalla, and Port Lincoln. Among users seeking clinical support, 40% were nurses, followed by administrative (25%), pharmacy (20%), and medical staff (15%). Single Patient Use protocol requests from RLHNs represented 5.5% of total builds. Regional site visits were conducted in Mount Gambier, Wallaroo, and Port Pirie, with Gawler scheduled for June 2025. Pharmacist activities included medication reconciliation, therapeutic reviews and ECPS user support and troubleshooting.
Discussion
The next phase involves distributing a targeted questionnaire to RLHN clinicians to gather qualitative feedback, strengthen engagement, and identify further opportunities for enhanced communication, service delivery and integration of pharmacist-led digital support.