NT pharmacies face workforce crisis

PHARMACY owners in the Northern Territory are warning the Territory faces a workforce crisis following Charles Darwin University’s (CDU) decision to cut its Bachelor of Pharmacy program (PD 20 Aug).

Pharmacy Guild of Australia NT Branch President, Terry Battalis, called on the Territory Government to work with the profession to find alternative providers to train pharmacists urgently.

“The pharmacy course at CDU (then Northern Territory University) was established in the early 2000s, initially as a joint venture with James Cook University in Queensland and Curtin University in WA, with the support of the Northern Territory Government to address a significant workforce issue – a critical shortage of pharmacists,” he said.

“Over this period the CDU course has produced a small but steady stream of pharmacy graduates, many of whom have stayed in the Territory to complete their internship and to work as registered pharmacists.”

Battalis said the Territory’s 40 Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme approved pharmacies could be forced to close their doors if they are unable to recruit registered pharmacists.

“Unfortunately we are again looking down the barrel of another critical shortage of pharmacists,” he said.

“Community pharmacies employ the majority of pharmacists in the NT. These are the primary healthcare pharmacists who are responsible for providing medicines in a safe and timely manner to those in urban, regional and remote settings.

“These pharmacists are doing their best to provide a firstrate service despite the current economic pressures, and with an already stretched workforce.

“Ideally we would prefer to train and employ local people as pharmacists rather than turning to skilled migration to fill the gap. A local pharmacy course provides jobs for Territorians.”

Battalis said the Government should seek out interstate pharmacy schools who could open a local campus.