SUGGESTIONS that community pharmacists lack the skills to provide more services to patients no longer hold water with NSW Health Minister, Brad Hazzard, with the profession delivering for the State throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hazzard told delegates at the Pharmacy Guild of Australia NSW Branch Dinner last night, that the pandemic had highlighted "the natural capacity of community pharmacists to do so much for the community".
"We all know there's always a challenge of GPs not necessarily wanting pharmacists to do that extra [bit of healthcare] that they can do," he said.
"[But] COVID has made it really clear that pharmacists can do it.
"I remember sitting with Dr [Kerry] Chant and I was getting frustrated about the spread, or lack thereof, of GPs, and [trying to work out] how are we going to get there vaccines into arms - when the vaccines finally showed up.
"And when I asked the question 'what about pharmacists, where are they?' we looked at the map and there are 1,200 pharmacies that could do the job in some of the remote parts of the State."
Hazzard added that the broader pharmacy industry has been key to the State Government's COVID-19 response.
"I want to thank all the pharmacists and all of the team who actually supply the pharmacies, because quite simply NSW could not have done what we did without you," he said.
"I know the Victorian Health Minister, Martin Foley and Yvette D'Ath in Queensland - the three biggest states - we've had discussions about it and we all really get the fact that community pharmacists are very much at the forefront."
Hazzard also noted that community pharmacies have played a key role in the rollout of influenza vaccinations this year, with more than 500,000 doses administered through NSW-based stores under the State Government's free flu shot campaign this month.
Under the campaign pharmacist immunisers in NSW can administer free flu shots to patients aged five years and older until the end of Jun.
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