FEDERAL Regional Health Minister, Mark Coulton, has announced that the Pharmacy Guild of Australia is to have a permanent seat on the Rural Health Stakeholder Roundtable from 2021.
The appointment followed the Guild's involvement in a Rural and Remote Health Stakeholder Special COVID-19 teleconference in Aug.
Guild National President, George Tambassis, welcomed the decision as a recognition of community pharmacists in rural parts of the country.
"The Guild believes the standard of healthcare for regional, rural and remote areas of Australia should be equal to the standards available in metropolitan areas," he said.
"We are guided by the principle that all Australians have a right to equity and access to community pharmacy services.
"The permanent inclusion of the Guild on the Rural Health Stakeholder Roundtable will help us to advance these aims and work with other healthcare professionals and the Government to improve the health outcomes for communities in these areas.
"Regional, rural and remote pharmacies have played a pivotal role in helping communities through the COVID-19 crisis this year by remaining open, providing masks and personal protection equipment and going out of their way to ensure patients continue to receive their medicines and services.
"This has been done against the backdrop of their own personal and business difficulties faced as a result of the pandemic."
Tambassis added the Guild would use its position within the group to pursue solutions to bolster the rural pharmacy workforce, through Commonwealth Supported Places, and securing waiving of HECS debt for pharmacy students from rural and remote areas.
Meanwhile, a Guild source told Pharmacy Daily that a representative has yet to be appointed to sit on the roundtable.
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 18 Dec 20
To see the full newsletter, see the embedded issue below or CLICK HERE to download Pharmacy Daily from 18 Dec 20
