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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-12-02 Daily Xml
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Community Pharmacists

The Hon. J.A. DARLEY (15:35): I rise today to speak about community pharmacists and the importance of broadening their scope of practice in our healthcare system. Community pharmacists are highly trusted, accessible and the most visible healthcare professionals in Australia. On average, Australians visit a community pharmacy 18 times a year. To put this in perspective, Australians visit their GP on average six times per year.

With over 5,762 pharmacies across Australia and over 461 million individual patient visits annually, it is clear that community pharmacists are health professionals who are highly accessible to the public. Approximately 492 pharmacies exist in South Australia, and many are conveniently open on a walk-in basis to the public, after hours and on weekends.

Compared with other health professionals, community pharmacists have a greater geographical spread across regional Australia. In our capital cities 97 per cent of consumers are no further than 2.5 kilometres from a pharmacy, and in regional areas 65 per cent of the population are within 2.5 kilometres of a pharmacy. These factors place community pharmacists in the best position to be able to serve our community for further health issues.

Pharmacists across Australia are currently limited in the duties they can perform. There would be numerous benefits to both our healthcare system and the consumer if pharmacists were permitted to operate at their full scope. Community pharmacists have the skills and expertise to evolve in their current role of providing general medication supply and advice. Their services could be expanded to include a range of services, including but not limited to administering further vaccinations to a broader scope of the community, personalised medication advice, chronic disease support, disease screening and risk assessment, and general health advice, including preventative health and point-of-care testing.

Our current health system is overworked, and our growing and ageing population will only further exacerbate this issue in the future. Allowing community pharmacists to operate at their full scope will relieve unnecessary strain on our GPs and our emergency departments. This would lead to increased frontline healthcare accessibility, fewer out-of-pocket costs for consumers, less waiting time for GPs and emergency departments, and overall better health outcomes for patients.

Community pharmacists have always played a critical role in our healthcare system, but their importance has been truly highlighted during this unprecedented year. While continuing to serve our local communities during the health pandemic, community pharmacists across Australia have administered over one million doses of flu vaccine.

Their efforts are truly appreciated, and their vital role in keeping our communities safe cannot be underestimated. Their adaptability and dedication to serving the community during this year further highlights that they can be utilised to a further extent in our health system and in relation to the rollout of a possible COVID-19 vaccine, if approved.

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