Objective:
Training and education related to the provision of the Opioid Subsitution Treatment (OST) Program is highly recommended by the Pharmacy Board of South Australia for pharmacists involved with the provision of methadone and buprenorphine. There has never been a formal evaluation of South Australian pharmacists practice standards. An investigation into the adherence of pharmacy practice standards to the Guidelines for Pharmacists - Pharmacotherapy Programs in SA was undertaken.

Method:
A voluntary, anonymous postal survey about OST practice standards was developed and mailed out to 192 participating pharmacies in SA identified as services providers by Drug & Alcohol Services South Australia. The survey asked pharmacist’s questions in relation to their demographic details, pharmacy dosing and client care practices. Responses were returned by reply-paid envelopes. Data collected was analysed using the software package Minitab 14©.

Results
In total, 127 responses (66%) were returned. Thirty-five percent of the respondents had never participated in any form of OST training. Pharmacists complied well with DASSA guidelines on use of a client attendance sheet, crushing buprenorphine tablets prior to supervised dosing, and regularity of balancing the Schedule 8 register. Pharmacists performed poorly in adequately supervising buprenorphine clients and correct dilution of methadone syrup take-away doses. To compare the results of trained pharmacists versus those who were not trained, trained pharmacists performed significantly better at providing client-pharmacy contracts (p = 0.044), supervising buprenorphine clients (p = 0.049), diluting methadone syrup take-away doses (p = 0.007), referring clients to the prescriber in appropriate circumstances (p = 0.002) and handling client transfers (p = 0.004).

Conclusion
Although participation in OST training is voluntary for pharmacists, the study highlighted a positive link between participation in training and adherence with the guidelines. It also showed a need for training to emphasize areas of practice which are currently being poorly performed.