NSW Treasurer, Dominic Perrottet, is missing out on potential savings that pharmacists could deliver, by failing to invest in the profession's capacity to triage and manage patients with minor ailments, Pharmaceutical Society of Australia NSW Branch President, Chelsea Felkai, believes.
While Felkai welcomed funding allocations of $37.3 million to implement a real-time prescription monitoring system in the State, and $82.8 million over four years to bolster palliative care services in NSW - including funding pharmacists as part of palliative care teams - announced in Tue's State Budget, she said Perrottet had missed opportunities to better use pharmacists.
"Whilst there are many positive outcomes in the budget announcement, it has missed the opportunity to utilise the skills, expertise and accessibility of pharmacists to both support the COVID-19 vaccination rollout, and to help take pressure off our hospitals," she said.
"This Budget has significant investments in hospital upgrades, but misses the opportunity to reduce the financial impact and burden of non-urgent presentations on hospital emergency departments, which could be better managed in primary care settings."
Felkai also stressed the need for the State Government to take steps to activate community pharmacies to join the COVID-19 vaccine rollout program as soon as possible.
"We know that primary care providers are administering COVID-19 vaccinations at twice the rate of vaccination hubs, so we need to draw on the existing infrastructure and pharmacist vaccinator workforce to join our GP colleagues in getting the vaccine rolled out more efficiently," she said.
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