EMPLOYEE pharmacists' union, Professional Pharmacists Australia (PPA), wants authorities to engage with it before giving the green light for the expansion of the profession's scope of practice.
Responding to reports that the Pharmacy Guild of Australia has consulted with State and Territory governments across the country to introduce programs similar to the Urinary Tract Infection Pharmacy Pilot - Queensland (UTIPP-Q) (PD 05 Sep) PPA CEO, Jill McCabe flagged concerns.
"While we are broadly supportive of programs that increase pharmacists' scope of practice and ability, any proposed expansion of services must involve consultation with PPA, take account of the views of working pharmacists and importantly provide increased remuneration for the additional work that pharmacists will be expected to undertake," she said.
"PPA is concerned that it has not been consulted about what this will actually entail for working pharmacists.
"We have not been engaged in any discussions about the North Queensland expanded scope of practice trial, nationwide UTI treatment programs, or the Pharmacists in Aged Care Homes program design, which means the voices of working pharmacists are not being heard in the design of new initiatives.
"For too long, employee pharmacists have had their workloads increased and work practices have changed without adequate consultation or compensation."
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