The union and professional association for staff in community and hospital pharmacies has urged the federal government to provide urgent supplies of rapid antigen tests and personal protective equipment.
Professional Pharmacists Australia president Geoff March said “the federal government’s announcement that RATs would be freely available for six million pensioners and concession cardholders, without providing adequate logistical support to ensure pharmacies had access to these tests, was reckless and negligent”.
“The federal government’s announcement relied on pharmacies sourcing the RAT tests themselves, but a recent survey found that over 93 per cent of pharmacists have reported major difficulties accessing any supplies at all,” Dr March said.
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“The shortages are taking a major toll on pharmacists themselves, with over 75 per cent of pharmacists also reporting that the shortage of RAT tests had a ‘significant’ or ‘extreme’ impact on their ability to do their work.”
PPA chief executive Jill McCabe said “Australia’s community pharmacists can’t do their job properly or safely without sufficient supplies of rapid antigen tests and personal protective clothing”.
“Pharmacists urgently require supplies of adequate PPE for the safe administration of vaccines. However, 25 per cent of respondents to our survey indicated they were having to provide their own PPE.
“Pharmacists are working hard to roll out vaccination boosters and children’s vaccination before the return to school but can’t do their jobs properly and safely without access to adequate PPE.”
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