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Speaker 1: Territorians will have better access to frontline health services under

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Speaker 1: the colp's plan for expanded pharmacy services across the end too,

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Speaker 1: if they are elected. That is what they announced yesterday.

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Speaker 1: Now joining me on the line is the opposition spokesperson

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Speaker 1: for Health, Bill Yan. Good morning to you, Bill.

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Speaker 2: Morning, Katie, and good morning to everybody.

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Speaker 3: I'm in the top end.

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Speaker 1: Now, Bill, the Northern Territory Community Pharmacy Scope of Practice program,

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Speaker 1: it would mean, well, it would see an offer of

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Speaker 1: additional health services to patients for up to twenty one conditions,

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Speaker 1: including urine retract infections, school source shingles, wound management to

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Speaker 1: name a few. What does this all mean if elected?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, katib If you look at we've been doing discussions

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Speaker 2: with the two representing groups for pharmacies here in territory

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Speaker 2: now for quite some time, and there's been discussions around

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Speaker 2: expanding the scope of practice for pharmacists here in chitory

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Speaker 2: they're doing in other states.

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Speaker 3: There was recent trials done over in Queen's Day and

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Speaker 3: over the last few years, and all those trials have

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Speaker 3: been successful. So there are a number of things that

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Speaker 3: pharmacists can or services farmersists can provide to patients with

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Speaker 3: some extra training and they're very very simple ones. And

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Speaker 3: this takes a lot of pressure off our frontline health services,

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Speaker 3: whether it be our GPS or our hospitals, and gives

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Speaker 3: the people in the territory quicker and better access for

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Speaker 3: some of those low level conditions where they can get

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Speaker 3: some advice some treatment quite quickly. And of course we've

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Speaker 3: got a pharmacists right across the territory and it gives

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Speaker 3: people better access and UTIs is a very very simple one.

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Speaker 3: The pharmacists can do some specific training which can be

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Speaker 3: done pretty quick and of course that gives people the

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Speaker 3: ability to get in and see their pharmacists and get

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Speaker 3: some assistance with view and retract infections quickly and simply.

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Speaker 3: And again it takes that pressure off our primary healthcare

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Speaker 3: sector being hospitals but also our GPS. It's not meant

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Speaker 3: to of course replace GPS or any of those services,

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Speaker 3: but it's mainly there to health services and health provisions

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Speaker 3: to terra croins and supplement the stuff that's already there.

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Speaker 1: Bill, is this I mean, is it similar to what

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Speaker 1: the Labor Party had been proposing through your say platform,

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Speaker 1: where people then have the opportunity to you know, to

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Speaker 1: put in their feedback and say whether this is what

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Speaker 1: they want.

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Speaker 3: Well, labor have been pushing some stuff and it's about

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Speaker 3: your say, platform is what you might get and what

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Speaker 3: you might see? Why are out there? Actually also, I

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Speaker 3: suppose with this specific program is actually delivering. So we've

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Speaker 3: made that commitment in conjunction with the pharmacy groups, the

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Speaker 3: representative groups of pharmacy that if we're getting the government,

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Speaker 3: we're going to implement this give those pharmacists the ability

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Speaker 3: to expand the escape of practice and provide those additional

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Speaker 3: services to territories where the stuff's only there with CDU,

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Speaker 3: So the pharmacists can get that training through CDU. Some

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Speaker 3: of this stuff can take up to a year for

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Speaker 3: that additional training, but also provides better job opportunities and

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Speaker 3: better career paths, and I suppose job satisfaction for those pharmacists,

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Speaker 3: so rather than just bringing their dispensing medication, they can

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Speaker 3: actually be there and use the skills that they have

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Speaker 3: to provide those healthcare services.

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Speaker 1: Bell Will it make a difference? Will it? Would it

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Speaker 1: actually make a big difference to everyday territorians?

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Speaker 3: Absolutely, Katie. Sorry, when you look at our GPS, it's

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Speaker 3: hard sometimes getting the point they're always busy, and if

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Speaker 3: you need to get in straight away, you have to

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Speaker 3: wait a few days. And for some of these really

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Speaker 3: quite simple things like wound care. And the real simple

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Speaker 3: one that really does my head has for ages is

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Speaker 3: vaccinations for travel. Now you go to your GP to

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Speaker 3: get your vaccination, to get a vaccination, you go to

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Speaker 3: your chemist and get the script filled, then you take

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Speaker 3: the vaccination back to the GP to get the JAB. Well,

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Speaker 3: we know that pharmacists can do flu vaccines and have

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Speaker 3: been doing COVID vaccinations for ages. Why wouldn't you just

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Speaker 3: go to your GP, or maybe even if pharmacist could

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Speaker 3: do it, get the script for your vaccinations to go

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Speaker 3: overseas and the farmersiess can administer them. And we're not

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Speaker 3: tying up those GP placements and leaving them therefore the

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Speaker 3: more acute needs of territoriums. So it looks it's a

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Speaker 3: bit of a no brain to Katie. It provides additional

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Speaker 3: services for territories, better scope practice for our pharmacists, and

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Speaker 3: at the end of the day, better outcomes for everybody.

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Speaker 1: Bill pharmacists and GPS happy with this proposal. Were I mean,

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Speaker 1: were they consulted? Because I know that sometimes the GPS

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Speaker 1: might feel as though the pharmacists shouldn't be treating patients

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Speaker 1: for some of those things.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, those discussions have been had, Katie. And also these

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Speaker 3: discussions have also been had in those other states where

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Speaker 3: this has been boarding. There was some opposition from GPS

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Speaker 3: initially because they thought they were going to lose business,

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Speaker 3: they would lose patients, but that hasn't been the cats

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Speaker 3: where we've seen the expanded scope or practice rolled out

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Speaker 3: for pharmacists, there hasn't been a drop off in presentations

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Speaker 3: to GPS. So what it's done is that the GPS

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Speaker 3: are still ticking over quite nicely seeing their patients, but

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Speaker 3: they're dealing with some of the more high end stuff

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Speaker 3: and now the pharmacists, through their expanded scope or practice,

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Speaker 3: are dealing with some of those lower level issues. And

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Speaker 3: of course each compliments each other. So at the end

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Speaker 3: of the day, the winner has been the people on

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Speaker 3: the ground that the patients. So that was that's been

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Speaker 3: really good to see Bell.

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Speaker 1: Before I let you go, I know that the Northern

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Speaker 1: Territory government a little earlier this week well that the

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Speaker 1: Foundation works at Royal Dalen Hospitals near fifty seven point

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Speaker 1: seven million dollar twenty four bed mental health ward. We're

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Speaker 1: nearing completion with that project for cars to accept its

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Speaker 1: first patients in twenty twenty five. The three story facility

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Speaker 1: will have eighteen mental health impatient beds and an additional

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Speaker 1: six stabilization and referral beds. Now, this is an area

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Speaker 1: where we absolutely need, you know, we need those beds.

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Speaker 1: I've spoken to some territory and who actually have concerns

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Speaker 1: that we don't have capacity for young people like children

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Speaker 1: under the age of eighteen that may need specific mental

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Speaker 1: health support. Is that something that the CLP is prepared

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Speaker 1: to look into.

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Speaker 3: Absolutely, Katie. We're seeing an increase in mental health issues

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Speaker 3: for younger people, those under adeen and now for two years,

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Speaker 3: I've been asking about the new mental health facility, how

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Speaker 3: it's going to be staffed, how it will be resourced.

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Speaker 3: So are they going to script resources out of the

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Speaker 3: hospital to move them across the mental health Because the

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Speaker 3: mental health is growing across the territory, we need more beds.

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Speaker 3: I'm concerned that the beds that we're going to put

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Speaker 3: in are they going to be enough? Are we going

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Speaker 3: to be able to staff it appropriately? And we certainly

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Speaker 3: have issues here in Central Australia for the amount of

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Speaker 3: mental health beds and treatment provision. So it's a service

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Speaker 3: that needs to be expanded and addressed, I think critically

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Speaker 3: for the territory, but also for those young people. And said,

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Speaker 3: we've had a couple of suicides down here with young

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Speaker 3: people over the weekend, which highlights the need for mental

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Speaker 3: health in Central Australia right across right across the territory

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Speaker 3: because we need to be addressing those those underlying issues

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Speaker 3: early and getting people a treatment that they need, and

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Speaker 3: we've seen a bit of a lack in that mental

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Speaker 3: health space for quite some time.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and look if you know, so if there is

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Speaker 1: anybody out there listening this morning that does need support,

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Speaker 1: you can get in contact with Lifeline on thirteen eleven

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Speaker 1: fourteen and that Kid's Helpline as well on one eight

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Speaker 1: hundred and five y five one eight hundred Bill. I

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Speaker 1: really appreciate your time this morning as always, thank you

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Speaker 1: very much for having a chat with us, and we'll

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Speaker 1: talk to you again soon.

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Speaker 3: Absolutely, Candy, thank you