Overview

The National Medical Stockpile (NMS) holds products to support responses to health events and emergencies. Some NMS products are pre-positioned in Queensland.

Treating clinicians in Queensland can request to access medicinal products for individuals or small groups of patients. The medicinal products are a limited supply of highly specialised drugs that may be difficult to get through normal channels.

The release of products must be approved by Queensland’s National Medical Stockpile delegate.

The NMS access procedure does not cover:

  • large-scale health emergencies. These are managed through separate emergency management processes
  • patients receiving treatment outside of Queensland. You should contact the relevant state or territory Department of Health and refer to their local guidelines
  • requests for personal protective equipment (PPE). These should be organised using local processes or supply coordinators. During emergency events, requests for PPE from the Queensland Government Critical Supply Reserve can be made via established emergency management processes.

Further information is available via the National Medical Stockpile | Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing.

Process steps: all hours

This outlines the steps for treating clinicians to access to NMS medicinal products for Queensland patients.

  1. Discuss the request with the relevant specialist (e.g. infectious disease, sexual health).
  2. Confirm you have their approval to seek NMS products.
  3. Access the NMS online request form by clicking the “Complete the NMS form” link below.
  4. Complete all mandatory fields.
  5. Provide additional comments, if required.
  6. Ensure contact and delivery details are correct—this ensures stock delivery can occur as expected.
  7. Click submit. This automatically sends the form to the Queensland NMS delegate.

Complete the NMS request form ❯

Only use the request to access the National Medical Stockpile form (PDF 601 kB) if the online form is unavailable. Email the completed form to nmsrequest@health.qld.gov.au.

After-hours for immediate action

Requests are actioned immediately between 8am and 4pm on Brisbane workdays. Requests received outside these hours and which also require immediate action must be escalated.

  1. Complete the process steps above including to complete the form.
  2. Call 13 HEALTH (13 43 25 84).
  3. Advise ‘I need to speak with Queensland’s National Medical Stockpile delegate about a stockpiled product’.
  4. Respond to some brief identifying questions.
  5. Be transferred to the delegate.
  6. Briefly summarise the situation.
  7. Exchange mobile phone numbers with the delegate.

13 HEALTH will only connect you with the Queensland NMS delegate. They do not provide information about NMS stock or answer questions about NMS processes.

What happens next

Queensland’s NMS delegate will review the form. If the delegate approves the request, they will progress the form to the NMS.

The NMS will review the request, confirm stock availability and verify delivery arrangements. For pre-positioned stock, this may be actioned by Queensland Health’s Central Pharmacy.

Authorisation will then be sought from the Commonwealth Chief Medical Officer (CMO) or relevant delegate to deploy stock.

Following approval, the NMS will contact the treating clinician and delivery site using details from the form. This will include a response to the email trail that contained the request form.

Dispatch and delivery

As the treating clinician it is your responsibility to discuss the receipt and appropriate storage of NMS items with the receiving pharmacy.

Dispatch and delivery advice about requested products will be sent to the contact details provided on the request form. This will be sent either by the NMS, or by Central Pharmacy for pre-positioned stock.

Dispatched items will include product information inserts, guides or directions for use and storage requirements.

The delivery contact person nominated on the request form will need to sign for receipt of the requested items on their arrival, and inform the treating clinician of their arrival.

A copy of the signed receipt is returned to the transport company, and a copy should be retained at the receiving facility.

Cold chain monitoring

Upon receipt of items transported in cold chain, the cold chain monitor must be checked to ensure that no cold chain breaches occurred during transportation. If cold chain breaches have occurred, the NMS must be notified immediately for assessment of the product.

Cold chain packaging

NMS deliveries—please do not discard cold chain packaging and gel packs from NMS deliveries. Couriers are instructed by the NMS to collect these for return and reuse.

Central Pharmacy deliveries (pre-positioned NMS stock) to:

  • Queensland Health facilities—please follow any relevant reverse-logistics processes for cold chain packaging and gel packs
  • private hospitals and other non-Queensland Health facilities—cold chain packaging and gel packs for items do not require return.

Unused NMS items

Any unopened or unused NMS items must be returned to the hospital’s pharmacy at the end of treatment.

The hospital pharmacy needs to contact the NMS to determine usage, return and/or disposal of items including any unopened items.

Last updated: 24 November 2025