Under the new "continued dispensing" regime pharmacists will be able to supply medicines without a script where there is an immediate and ongoing need for supply and the patient can't obtain a valid prescription in time.

The drug must have previously been prescribed to the patient and the pharmacist will also need to write to the patient's GP within 24 hours to let them know an extra supply has been dispensed.

Pharmacy First pharmacist manager Leigh Borovina said the recent legislation would benefit the Mount Isa community greatly.

"I'm still being advised on the legislation but I think it comes at a great benefit for rural and remote locations such as Mount Isa, especially knowing some residents are waiting three weeks for scripts at the moment," she said.

"It allows for people not to run out of their prescriptions which can reduce the risk of strokes in the case of cholesterol-lowering drugs."

Federal Health Minister Tanya Plibersek said people can currently access emergency supplies of a medicine without a prescription but the process is complicated and they have to pay the full cost rather than the government-subsidised price.

Ms Plibersek said the change is a big win for patients who can't always make it to their doctor before their medication runs out, but has GPs outraged.

Australian Medical Association (AMA) president Steve Hambleton said pharmacists have a clear conflict of interest in dispensing drugs without a script.

"The pharmacist gets a commercial gain and taxpayers foot the bill," Dr Hambleton said.

"For safety's sake and the lack of the moral hazard we say prescribing and dispensing should be separate."

Ms Plibersek insisted the change wasn't an open book for chemists to hand out birth control pills and statins.

Federal parliament passed the changes to the community pharmacy agreement legislation last Thursday.

The new rules are due to come into effect from July 2012.