Pharmacists seek Board support

DATA from the second survey of stakeholder understanding and perceptions of the role and work of the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) and National Boards, shows pharmacists feel the Pharmacy Board of Australia should play a greater role in advocating for the profession.

The latest findings revealed 9% of pharmacists perceived the Board advocated on their behalf, while 50% saw the body’s primary role as being a regulator.

“I wish the Board was a bigger voice in lobbying for the profession,” one respondent said.

“There is a lot of apathy and discontent in the profession, and it feels like the head of pharmacy doesn’t care.

“Particularly in areas such as pharmacists prescribing, a statement was released, but no action appears to be occurring from the Board.

“The Board should be more actively involved in [promoting] pharmacists having more access to the Medicare Benefits Scheme and also pharmacists practising in areas such as GP clinics and nursing homes.”

While pharmacists felt the Board was not playing a sufficiently active role in advocating to increase the profession’s scope of practice, 64% reported that they trusted it.

“They ensure that the public have reputable pharmacists working in Australia,” one pharmacist said. “They don’t seem to have a bias.” While another praised their role in protecting the public and the profession’s reputation.

“They have a good balance to disciplining idiot dumb pharmacists to protect the public and the profession and do not make life hell for those professionals that are doing the right thing to the best of their abilities,” the respondent said.

The survey noted pharmacists had greater confidence that the Board was “doing everything it can to keep the public safe” (53%), than they did in AHPRA (41%).

When compared with other health professions, pharmacists were more likely to report reading communications of their National Board immediately (49%), compared with 40% among all AHPRA regulated professions.