Pharmacy Daily | Twomey takes aim at PHNs over PPE

CEOS of primary health networks (PHNs) in Sydney are being urged to "get off the couch" and start getting taxpayer-funded personal protective equipment (PPE) to pharmacies.

With community pharmacies across NSW being given the green-light to administer the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to all adults over the age of 18 years, Pharmacy Guild of Australia National President, Trent Twomey, voiced his frustration at the lack of support pharmacies in hotspot areas have received from their local PHNs.

Speaking on ABC Radio's The World Today, Twomey noted that pharmacy owners were putting their hands in their pockets to source PPE to protect staff and patients - a point previously highlighted by Guild NSW Branch President, David Heffernan (PD 27 Jul).

"The taxpayers [have] paid for a whole heap of PPE for essential workers in exactly this situation, yet it isn't being made available," Twomey said.

"And unfortunately we've had some pharmacists who've had to take themselves offline for 48 hours while they wait on [COVID test] results.

"I'm frustrated that my members are put at risk, and my members' patients are put at risk.

"So what I'd ask is that those PHNs do exactly what their name suggests and they get off the couch, they get out of their houses and their office building and they go out and build relationships with local community pharmacists.

"How are we supposed to do our job and stay open and protect our patients... if they're not doing the job that they're paid to do?"

Twomey said pharmacy owners were angry that they were being taken away from frontline duties and forced to "chase their tails and use creative ways to get hold of this essential stuff".

He added that the funds being spent by pharmacies on PPE was "money that could ordinarily be spent on more wages or more staff".

Meanwhile, Heffernan described the NSW State Government's move to lower the age for patients to receive the COVID vaccine in pharmacies from 40 to 18 years and older as a positive step.

"The NSW Government has arrived at the right decision in regards to making the vaccine more widely available, and it is a significant milestone in encouraging more people to be vaccinated," he said.