THE Western Australian Country Health Service's (WACHS's) Pharmacy Intern Program (PD 15 Nov) will help boost the rural pharmacy workforce in the State, the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia (SHPA) believes.
SHPA CEO, Kristin Michaels, said the program, which will see nine pharmacy graduates undertake their intern year in regional parts of WA, had set a national benchmark that will support a future pipeline of pharmacists working outside major metropolitan areas.
The WA Government has also agreed funding for nine pharmacists to undertake the SHPA Foundation Residencies in rural and regional parts of the State, enabling communities to benefit from increased local specialised medicines expertise.
"On behalf of our members in WA we congratulate WA Minister for Health and Mental Health, Amber-Jade Sanderson, WA Health, and WACHS Chief Pharmacist, Adam Hort, on expanding a single pharmacy intern placement to nine annualised hospital pharmacy interns and nine foundation residents," Michaels said.
"Surveys from the National Australian Pharmacy Students' Association (NAPSA) tell us that over 80% of pharmacy students want to work in hospital pharmacy, and this expanded training program will provide these opportunities.
"We know the best way to attract young clinicians to regional and remote areas is formalised local training programs with commensurate supports such as accommodation subsidies and travel allowances.
"The WACHS Pharmacy Workforce Plan ambitiously achieves this and helps WA Health to achieve several workforce recommendations in the Sustainable Health Review -- Final Report."
Michaels added that the investment in the pharmacy workforce would help ensure Western Australians are able to benefit from hospital pharmacist services at the bedside whenever they are receiving care.
"These additional clinical pharmacy resources will also enable WACHS to further expand collaborative pharmacist prescribing initiatives such as Partnered Pharmacist Medication Charting (PPMC) for inpatients which have been a major success throughout WA hospitals to improve safety, capacity and efficiency over the past few years in a collaborative and multidisciplinary manner," Michaels said.
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 16 Nov 22
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