PHARMACISTS are at breaking point due to shortages of COVID-19 rapid antigen tests (RATs) and vaccinations, union group, Professional Pharmacists Australia (PPA) reports.
Union CEO, Jill McCabe, hit out at the Federal Government's failure to ensure pharmacies have access to supplies of RATs ahead of the rollout of free tests to concession cardholders, which commenced on Mon.
She also called on the Government to boost supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) to pharmacists, noting shortages were pushing the profession to its limits.
"Australia's community pharmacists can't do their job properly or safely without sufficient supplies of RATs and personal protective clothing," she said.
"Pharmacists urgently require supplies of adequate PPE for the safe administration of vaccines.
"However, 25% of respondents to our survey indicated they were having to provide their own PPE.
"Yet again the Federal Government has failed to adequately plan and organise the supply of essential equipment to prevent the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant of COVID-19."
PPA President, Dr Geoff March, described the Government's approach to its free RAT rollout as "reckless and negligent".
"The Federal Government's announcement relied on pharmacies sourcing the RAT tests themselves, but a recent survey found that over 93% of pharmacists have reported major difficulties accessing any supplies at all," he said.
"The shortages are taking a major toll on pharmacists themselves, with over 75% of pharmacists also reporting that the shortage of RAT tests had a 'significant' or 'extreme' impact on their ability to do their work."
Meanwhile, Pharmacy Guild of Australia National President, Trent Twomey, has previously taken aim at Primary Health Networks (PHNs) for failing to deliver PPE to pharmacies participating in the COVID-19 vaccination rollout (PD 12 Jan).
In an interview with Sky News, Twomey noted that the pharmacy network was "just as critical as the GP network" to the vaccination effort and needed to be given appropriate PPE supplies.
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