One man’s protest for better pay and conditions is another man’s opportunity to widen scope of practice.
As 3500 doctors employed across NSW public hospitals strike, national Pharmacy Guild president Professor Trent Twomey has called for community pharmacists to be taken “off the bench”.
The three-day strike called by the Australian Salaried Medical Officers’ Federation has gone ahead in direct defiance of the Industrial Relations Commission.
ASMOF’s key ask is for the state government to return to the negotiating table and offer a pay rise of up to 30% to some doctors, bringing pay level with that of other states.
One of the specific concerns that ASMOF is acting on is that the relatively lower pay in NSW is affecting staff recruitment and retention, leaving the public hospital system chronically short-staffed.
Replying to a Facebook post from Premier Chris Minns officially acknowledging the strike, the official account for Professor Twomey posted the following: “NSW’s 2,000 Community Pharmacies stand ready to help. Take us off the bench.”
In NSW, some pharmacists are trained to prescribe antibiotics for suspected urinary tract infections, issue a resupply of the oral contraceptive pill and manage some symptoms associated with skin conditions.
Around 370 elective surgeries have been cancelled due to the strike, alongside 3020 outpatient consults and 486 chemotherapy sessions, although ASMOF has advised that emergency departments and critical care units will be operating on public holiday-level staffing.
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Several commenters on the Facebook post queried whether Professor Twomey planned on performing the cancelled surgeries himself.
The Medical Republic contacted the Pharmacy Guild with questions on what roles pharmacists could help fill during the strike.
It did not reply before deadline.
