Pharmacy Daily | Victoria needs primary care push

A SURGE in 000 ambulance calls on Mon in Victoria is prompting calls for the State Government to push patients towards primary care providers including pharmacists and GPs.

After months of COVID-19-related restrictions, during which many patients missed regular GP check-ups, Ambulance Victoria received more than 2,000 calls, as high temperatures took their toll on people, prompting the emergency service to post a tweet encouraging those not urgently requiring care to "call Nurse on Call" rather than 000.

Victorian Health Minister, Michael Foley, told The Age that patients should "take more control of their health and wellbeing themselves".

"[They should] make sure they engage with their pharmacist and their GP, so those more routine matters can be dealt with through other mechanisms rather than calling 000 in the middle of a very hot night," he said.

Pharmacy Guild of Australia Victorian Branch President, Anthony Tassone, backed the Minister's advice, and called on the State Government to re-run its 2018 'Save 000 for emergencies' campaign, to promote primary care as a first port of call for patients.

"The Victorian Government should seriously consider re-running this important message for the public," he said.

"As Victorians we have made tremendous sacrifices this year to 'flatten the curve' in the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and then another subsequent lockdown to ensure the health system was not overwhelmed.

"We must work smarter not just harder and do it together in our health system, as we can't stand by and see our emergency departments and ambulances overrun during 'business as usual' healthcare delivery.

"Community pharmacies are an essential and accessible service for the public.

"The more that can be done to promote awareness of this fantastic resource in our health system the better for the patients and the public at large."