The Pharmacy Guild has lodged its pre-budget submission with strategies on how to address the pharmacy workforce shortage.
The shortage was raised in the submission along with aged care reform, PBS prescribing and medicine affordability.
In discussing the challenges of the workforce, the submission noted that pharmacists and their staff are facing unprecedented demand, and expectations of their services have never been higher.
The submission says that with an ageing population and further advancements in pharmacists working to their full scope, this demand will only increase. Therefore, strategies are needed to help grow the workforce to meet that demand.
One of the proposals the Guild has put to the Government in the submission is to extend the Higher Educational Loan Program (HELP) for rural doctors and nurse practitioners to pharmacists.
This would attract more students to pharmacy and invest in the workforce for the future.
Migration has been another area identified which could help address the workforce shortages.
The Guild has proposed several initiatives in migration including a strategy to increase eligible visa classes that lead to permanent residency.
This Guild is also proposing to lift the cap on skilled migration as well as using immigration outreach officers to support the pharmacy industry to better understand sponsorship requirements and obligations.
Finally, there is a call to increase vocation education and training to “ensure skills and training are appropriate for the future pharmacy workplace.”
The Guild recently polled members about the workforce shortage in its Migration Report as part of the Workforce Capability Project.
The report found 74% of pharmacies are having trouble recruiting and retaining staff and around 18% of pharmacy employers say recruitment is the biggest challenge they face.
Rural and regional pharmacies have the most difficulty in meeting the population’s needs because of workforce shortages.
The proportion of part-time to full-time pharmacists in community pharmacy is “significantly unbalanced” compared to other industries, and a large number of internationally trained pharmacists have applied for Australian registration.
In rounding off the budget submission the Guild says, “the pharmacist workforce is experiencing issues which require equal attention by the government in order to maintain patient access to medicines through the PBS.”
The federal budget will be handed down on Tuesday 14th May.
