Pharmacy Daily | Pharmacies to join SA COVID trial

PHARMACISTS from up to five South Australian pharmacies will provide COVID-19 tests as part of a two-week pilot being conducted by SA Health.

The move backed by Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) South Australian Branch President, Robyn Johns, will assess the feasibility of using community pharmacies to boost the state's COVID-19 testing capacity.

SA Health has said it will not be promoting the pharmacy-based service during the trial, however pharmacists involved in the pilot will be allowed to ask patients with mild respiratory symptoms if they would like to be tested while they are in the pharmacy.

"As the most accessible healthcare provider, pharmacists are well placed to provide patients with COVID-19 tests which will allow a greater number of people to be tested in South Australia," she said.

"Some patients that enter a pharmacy may not think their symptoms are severe enough to visit the GP or a dedicated testing clinic but as we have seen throughout the pandemic those with mild symptoms can still test positive for COVID-19.

"Suitably trained pharmacists are more than capable of delivering such services and I congratulate SA Health for this forward thinking commonsense approach that could lead to testing being available in community pharmacies across South Australia."

Pharmacists participating in the pilot are being provided training to upskill in swab collection and infection control, so they can provide COVID testing to symptomatic patients.

Patients will need to have a smartphone and register with the SA Pathology Personify website to receive notification of their test result.