WORKFORCE shortages putting patient care at risk in the Northern Territory must be urgently addressed, Advanced Pharmacy Australia (AdPha) said.
The peak body has thrown its support behind the many NT hospital pharmacists and technicians taking protected industrial action as they fight for improved workforce conditions and allowances to ensure patient safety (PD 30 Jul).
AdPha says future care delivery to Territorians is under threat without better incentives to support a remote pharmacy workforce, improved retention payments, and competitive salary increases embedded in a new EBA.
AdPha Chief Executive Kristin Michaels, accompanied by NT AdPha members, met with the NT Health Minister Steve Edgington last month to advocate for flexibility in hiring for remote workforces, as well as implementing competitive and meaningful retention and recruitment incentives.
Hospital pharmacy workforce shortages are real and patients will be the ones who suffer if governments fail to act, AdPha President Tom Simpson said.
"Hospital pharmacists and technicians are at the frontline caring for patients at their most unwell - ensuring medicines are used safely, supporting doctors and nurses, and driving medication safety systems that every Territorian relies on," Simpson pointed out.
"Without them, hospitals would simply not function, yet their expanded role and impact on patient care continue to be undervalued.
Clinical pharmacy staffing in the NT is currently sitting at just 40% of national standards, with specialised areas such as maternity and palliative care wards and high-acuity emergency department wards particularly feeling the strain.
Meanwhile, more complex patients, new therapies and digital health systems have added to the scope of hospital pharmacy.
"This is a turning point - the NT Government must step up to properly support hospital pharmacists and technicians, because the safety of Territorians depends on it," Simpson concluded.
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