POLITICAL pledges to supply personal protective equipment (PPE) from the National Medical Stockpile to community pharmacies are not coming to fruition with Primary Health Networks (PHNs) repeatedly failing to deliver, Pharmacy Guild of Australia National President, Trent Twomey, believes.
Speaking during a Guild webinar last night, Twomey, said the current supply of taxpayer-funded PPE to the sector was "not good enough".
Earlier in the online event, Minister for Health, Greg Hunt, praised the work of pharmacy workers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and noted the Government had opened up "large volumes of PPE, not just to doctors, but specifically to pharmacists in NSW, Queensland and Victoria".
"That's a very important part - gloves, gowns, goggles, N95 and surgical masks, and the PHNs are supplying it," he said.
"Where there are any issues with that, Trent will let my office know and we will try to short circuit it."
Twomey welcomed the Minister's offer to intervene on the profession's behalf.
He later told delegates that, "there is a fundamental disconnect between what the Minister announces, what the elected officials believe is happening and what is being implemented by the PHNs."
"The First Assistant Secretary for the PHN wrote me a lovely letter - I'm not going to forward it to all of you - basically telling me to shut up," Twomey said.
"I won't shut up.
"We will continue to ensure that GPs are not treated preferentially to community pharmacies.
"Whilst they can transition to telehealth, we simply cannot."
Meanwhile, Twomey announced that Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, will address the pharmacy profession next week, during the Guild's weekly COVID-19 vaccination update webinar.
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