Overview of Australian remedy advisory committee (MAC) construction and performance. Credit score: Australasian Journal on Ageing (2025). DOI: 10.1111/ajag.70048
A brand new nationwide audit led by Monash College has make clear how remedy use is ruled in Australian residential aged care, revealing extensive variation within the construction and performance of Treatment Advisory Committees (MACs) throughout the nation.
MACs are central to selling remedy security in residential aged care, with their presence recognized as a key intervention to managing the difficulty of polypharmacy—the usage of 9 or extra drugs concurrently.
A MAC is a “multidisciplinary committee that provides overarching governance of medication management within residential care homes.” The Australian Authorities Division of Well being, Incapacity and Getting older recommends that every one residential care properties have entry to a MAC to assist protected use of medicines and, in the end, mitigate dangers related to inappropriate prescribing.
Researchers from the Heart for Drugs Use and Security (CMUS), inside the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (MIPS), led the nationwide audit to look at how MACs operate throughout their 4 advisable operational domains; coverage growth, danger administration, schooling, and high quality enchancment.
The audit, tailored from the Division of Well being and Aged Care’s MAC Audit Software, concerned 120 MACs overseeing 642 residential care properties—virtually 1 / 4 of all Australian residential care properties. The outcomes are revealed within the Australasian Journal on Ageing.
The findings present that MACs are actively concerned in coverage and danger oversight—with 59% and 53% respectively performing all advisable features—with additional alternatives for capability constructing and long-term enchancment. Total, 41% fulfilled all academic roles, and 28% have been absolutely engaged in high quality enchancment initiatives.
The examine’s lead creator, CMUS analysis fellow Dr. Amanda Cross, stated, “This audit highlights both the strengths and the areas needing targeted support in how we manage and govern medication safety in aged care. MACs have the potential to lead transformational change in this sector—if adequately supported and resourced.”
With the brand new strengthened Aged Care High quality Requirements on account of begin on 1 July 2025, Dr. Cross says “MACs are well positioned to support implementation and monitoring of Quality Standard 5 to ensure delivery of safe and quality clinical care to the almost 200,000 older Australians who access residential care.”
Professor Simon Bell, venture lead of the Maximizing Embedded Pharmacists in aGed cAre Treatment Advisory Committees (MEGA-MAC) venture, stated, “The national quality improvement collaborative implemented as part of the MEGA-MAC project utilizes a real-time clinical network designed to deliver, monitor and evaluate quality improvement initiatives.”
Extra info:
Amanda J. Cross et al, Nationwide audit of the construction and performance of Australian residential care remedy advisory committees, Australasian Journal on Ageing (2025). DOI: 10.1111/ajag.70048
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Monash College
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Nationwide audit reveals key strengths and alternatives for remedy oversight in Australian aged care (2025, Could 26)
retrieved 27 Could 2025
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