Pharmacy Daily | Pharmacy ‘the forgotten profession’

INCREASED remuneration and legislative reform is needed to support pharmacists to provide services to patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, a study reveals.

The paper published in Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy, found that pharmacists have experienced increased demands and reduced resources during COVID-19, which was associated with burnout.

The authors from the Australian National University College of Health and Medicine, and the University of Sydney's School of Pharmacy, reported that many of the demands placed on pharmacists during the pandemic were the result of the accessible and trustworthy role they play in healthcare, which fuelled increased workloads.

"Pharmacists were relied upon to provide advice and support to communities as fear, uncertainty, and social isolation caused increased psychological distress and anxiety during the pandemic," they said.

"Taking on roles usually performed by others, particularly in-person consultations and [providing] public health information... due to their accessibility and expertise during pandemics and emergencies, all of which added to the expectations placed on them.

"Pharmacists reported feeling unappreciated, and undervalued, 'the forgotten profession' during COVID-19.

"The value of pharmacists needs to be reflected with adequate remuneration and legislative reform to support them to perform their important duties.

"For many pharmacists, the demands of taking on additional tasks that would usually be performed by others was extra work and 'never financially compensated for'.

"Providing pharmacists with an appropriate legal and financial framework to practise in extended scope roles such as emergency preparedness and response, vaccination, specialist compounding, and even prescribing will ensure adequate training and governance to support a sustainable model of care and a valued workforce.

"This intervention will likely also reduce some demands such as managing medication supply, which was 'a major problem' and resulted in poor consumer behaviour, as pharmacists would have more autonomy and agency in making decisions around medications."