MORE than one-in-10 pharmacists believe the profession cannot trust its regulator, a survey reveals.
The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) review of stakeholder perceptions released last week found 11% of pharmacists saw the Pharmacy Board of Australia as an advocate - down 7% on the previous survey, with 14% describing it as competent (down 4%), while 16% said it was "controlling" (up 6%).
The survey found 12% of respondents did not trust the Board, while 17% said they did not trust AHPRA, describing the agency as "a faceless bunch of bureaucrats".
Critics of the Board accused it of allowing "Chemist Warehouse (CWH) and other businesses to destroy the pharmacy profession", while bias and nepotism were flagged as concerns by pharmacists.
"[It] does not follow through on breaches by rich and more powerful pharmacists," one respondent claimed.
"[It] just follows up on vulnerable pharmacists looking for work or [to] improve their position."
Another pharmacist claimed the Board was "dominated by the same monopoly of men who are friends and Pharmacy Guild of Australia members, all working with each other for their own benefit".
Critics of AHPRA accused the agency of being "out of touch with current challenges that practitioners face".
"They operate a system of health practitioners being guilty until proven innocent instead of the other way round," one pharmacist said.
Another pharmacist hit out at the requirement for health practitioners to report health conditions.
"Mandatory reporting of health conditions leads to those suffering health conditions not seeking help from fear of losing their registration and livelihood," the pharmacist said.
"This in turn leads to worsening of the underlying condition, self medication, other unhelpful coping mechanisms and likely has lead to countless preventable deaths and suicides."
Others called for a greater distinction between the roles and responsibilities of AHPRA and the Board to be made clearer, with respondents saying that "on the surface it seems like a duplication in organisations".
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