THE Remote and Isolated Pharmacist Association Australia (RIPAA) is urging the Federal Government to "try something different" in rural Australia and fund an innovative pharmacy model that will "turbocharge primary healthcare in areas that need it the most".
The organisation is calling on the government ahead of next week's budget to fund a pilot to support community pharmacies in "thin rural markets" to deliver expandedservices.
"The funding will assist pharmacies to attract, recruit and retain the necessary workforce to deliver an expanded services model and enable pharmacy to move beyond dispensing and provide a much broader range of face-to-face services in disadvantaged communities - both within the pharmacy and across other local settings such as the patient's home and Aged Care," said a spokesperson for RIPAA.
While pharmacists play an important role in the healthcare system, one that is gradually expanding to encompass a more formalised role in primary care and prescribing, RIPAA pointed out that pharmacy remuneration largely revolves around dispensing and prescription volume, with limited government funding for non-dispensing services.
"Pharmacy service viability is a particular challenge in small towns across rural and remote Australia where the pharmacist workforce is in short supply, employment costs are higher than metropolitan areas, and many patients are unable to afford the out-of-pocket expenses of user-pays services," said RIPAA.
"This triple whammy is creating a situation where pharmacies within communities with the worst access to care, where GPs and other healthcare professionals are also stretched, are having a hard time making expanded pharmacy services sustainable."
While there are a number of pharmacist prescribing pilots currently underway in various Australian jurisdictions, RIPAA noted these trials have not been designed in such a way to enable smaller rural pharmacies to participate.
By way of example, there are very few remote and isolated (MM5-7) pharmacies taking part in the Queensland full scope pilot, with workforce constraints and funding barriers preventing the pharmacies that are best positioned to do more for their communities from beinginvolved.
RIPAA noted that the proposed model will complement and integrate with existing local healthcare providers and support more equitable health outcomes for rural patients that rely heavily on their local community pharmacy. KB
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