Guild supports moratorium
July 20, 2011
NO NEW pharmacy schools
should be established in Australia,
according to the Pharmacy Guild of
Australia.
The Guild’s comments come in
support of the Dean of the Monash
University’s Faculty of Pharmacy,
Professor William Charman (PD
yesterday), who said the growing
number of pharmacy schools was
not only a concern, but unsustainable.
“It is time for a moratorium on
any new schools – given that the
number of schools has tripled since
1997,” a Guild statement said.
The Guild also said that there was
an urgent need for accurate data on
the pharmacist workforce, in order
to let universities know how many
graduates the industry will support
once students graduate.
Specifics of the data would need
to include where students come
from, where they graduate, where
they ultimately work, the hours
pharmacists are under-employed or
over-employed, the types of
workplaces, and how many are
leaving the profession.
“This is the kind of information
which can inform national
pharmacy workforce policy
decisions,” said the National
President of the Guild, Kos Sclavos.
“We know there are some parts
of Australia where there are
shortages, and others where there
are surpluses.
“Now that we have a national
Pharmacy Board, such data collection
is achievable, and in the pipeline.”
The information that is collected,
according to the Guild, may push a
moratorium further into capping
numbers of pharmacy students
entering existing Australian
pharmacy schools.
“Pharmacists rely on the private
sector for jobs more than any other
profession,” the Guild said.
“This has proven increasingly
difficult with the rapid proliferation
and expansion of pharmacy schools
in the past ten years,” it added.
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