COMMUNICATIONS failures are contributing to confusion over the distribution of face masks from the national medical stockpile, as part of the Federal Government's response to the coronavirus outbreak, Pharmacy Guild of Australia Executive Director, Suzanne Greenwood, believes.
In an editorial in the Guild's Forefront newsletter, Greenwood said the outbreak highlights the importance of collaboration between health professionals and health bodies.
Despite statements from Government officials that face masks were to be made available for use by doctors, pharmacists and their staff, Greenwood noted, "unfortunately, due to a lack of communication from official channels, it seems that the message that these are to be made available to pharmacists and their staff did not get through to all Primary Health Networks (PHNs) and this has caused some confusion".
"This is not the fault of the PHNs in any way and I have had a number of reports of any confusion being overcome through collaboration and goodwill on the part of PHNs and pharmacies," she said.
"The PHNs know the pharmacies in their areas and know their needs and I suspect the staff at the PHNs have been as bemused as the pharmacists at the communication failure about who should get the masks.
"But people speaking to me have indicated that the issues have been resolved through common sense and the focus that PHNs and pharmacists share on improving patient wellbeing."
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 27 Feb 20
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