“I was a terrible student but good at talking and finding ways to get the best outcomes for my patients,” he said.
Innovation and change have always been part of the journey for Wally, particularly when it comes to improving healthcare access in rural and regional communities.
In 2011, the Pharmacy Guild of Australia’s National Student Business Plan Competition called for pharmacy students across the country to bring their innovative ideas and entrepreneurial spirit forward – and Wally answered the call.
The competition connected him with an intern scholarship at LiveLife Pharmacies in the Whitsundays, and he has been a partner at LiveLife Pharmacies in Bowen, Queensland, since 2018.
Doctors are hard to come by in rural and regional Queensland… It showed me that we needed to find a way to reduce the pressure on already overworked health professionals.
Wally Maguire, Full-scope Pharmacist
In one of the most exciting milestones for community pharmacists, Wally studied in the first cohort to achieve fullscope qualifications through James Cook University and the Queensland University of Technology.
Wally quickly embraced the increased professional services that came with the 5CPA and 6CPA, and with LiveLife he was among the first 29 pharmacies able to give influenza vaccinations under the Queensland Pharmacist Immunisation Pilot in 2014.
In 2024, 10 years into the permanent pharmacy immunisation program, more than 267,000 Queenslanders received their flu vaccination from their community pharmacy.
Increasing access and reducing barriers to health professionals in remote areas is a key motivator in Wally’s drive to innovate community pharmacy.
“Doctors are hard to come by in rural and regional Queensland,” he said.
“In Bowen, we saw our health system come under the pump throughout the pandemic, from waiting times to see local doctors to our hospital emergency departement being overrun with patients.
“It showed me that we needed to find a way to reduce the pressure on already overworked health professionals.”
The Queensland Community Pharmacy Scope of Practice Pilot began delivering services on 23 April 2024. By training community pharmacists to treat more health conditions, the pilot aimed to give patients more options for the treatment they needed and ease pressure on a healthcare system still reeling from COVID-19.
It was a natural step for Wally, who has made a career out of pushing the boundaries of what pharmacists can do, with a strong belief that the right clinical training and communication skills can transform healthcare systems.
Before any of that, though, it was back to school to learn a whole new way of delivering care.
Full scope elevates our pharmacists from medication experts to frontline clinicians with enhanced skills. Our community and patients stand to benefit immensely through fast and convenient access to care.
Wally Maguire, Full-scope Pharmacist
“Going back to university for full scope training was a bit different after 12 years of being a pharmacist.
“It was more hands-on and labour-intensive than I ever thought it would be.
“If anyone had told me back in 2011 that I would be gathering best possible medication histories, social histories, prescribing, examining and recalling patients, I’d probably tell them they were dreaming.”
Graduating among Australia’s first pioneering full-scope pharmacists made it all worth it.
With seven full-scope LiveLife pharmacies having offered over 500 pharmacist consults across the Whitsundays region alone, Wally has seen local patients, hospitals and doctors take up the new services with open arms.
Now, as more pharmacists prepare to undertake their scope training, Wally has his sights set on empowering everyone to do – and be – more.
The call to action of full scope services is felt and heard across his pharmacy staff, from the pharmacy assistants triaging patients and supporting point-of-care testing to the new cohorts undertaking training to become fully enabled prescribing pharmacists.
Going back to university for full scope training was a bit different after 12 years of being a pharmacist. It was more hands-on and labourintensive than I ever thought it would be.
Wally Maguire, Full-scope Pharmacist
Wally talks proudly of the LiveLife staff becoming prescribing pharmacists through partially funded study, travel and accommodation for exams, enabling even remote students to make the most of their courses. For the patients and pharmacists of Bowen, the future is bright with more options, greater accessibility, and increasingly personalised healthcare through full scope pharmacies.
“Full scope elevates our pharmacists from medication experts to frontline clinicians with enhanced skills,” Wally said.
“Our community and patients stand to benefit immensely through fast and convenient access to care, more choices, and lower out-of-pocket costs.”
