Prominent healthcare organisations have issued an open letter to the federal, state and territory health ministers demanding action on the slow roll-out of the Electronic Recording and Reporting of Controlled Drugs (ERRCD) system, calling for an implementation plan to be agreed at the next COAG Health Council meeting.

Real-time prescription monitoring has so far only been rolled out in Tasmania, where the precursor to ERRCD was first developed, with the other states and territories at varying stages in their implementations. This is despite repeated and very public calls for the urgent implementation of the system by a number of coroners, particularly in Victoria, South Australia and Queensland, following accidental deaths due to overdoses of prescription drugs.