THE Victorian Government is moving to clarify requirements for accessing the State's COVID hardship payment scheme after pharmacists flagged concerns that potentially infectious patients may visit stores.
Pharmacy Guild of Australia Victorian Branch President, Anthony Tassone, told Pharmacy Daily, that a number of patients who had been told to self-isolate had visited stores seeking to have statutory declarations witnessed, to secure the support payments, despite the potential risk to health staff.
"Whilst this hardship financial payment scheme is sensible in the circumstances to encourage people to not go to work and stay home if unwell -- it's intended to do exactly that, for people to stay home," he said.
"When this support measure was first announced by Premier Daniel Andrews last week, there were inferences of the potential need for evidence to support the application being a payslip or a statutory declaration.
"The Guild contacted the office of the Victorian Minister for Health Jenny Mikakos to express significant concern of potentially infectious people presenting to pharmacies wanting to put together evidence to support their hardship payment.
"The Minister's office understood these concerns and the government has made no mention of the need for a statutory declaration on their online resources.
"A number of pharmacies in Victoria have momentarily suspended document witnessing and signing services during the COVID pandemic which is understandable to best manage their focus and priorities of patient care during this challenging time.
"If a person is known to be seeking a statutory declaration for the purposes of a hardship payment and they should be isolating -- the pharmacy are within their rights to ask that individual to leave the pharmacy and isolate until their test results arrive.
"A payslip is sufficient for documentary evidence of this hardship payment.
"It shouldn't come to this.
"Pharmacy staff are on the frontline of healthcare with better things to do than explain away government support services."
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