1
00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:03,040
Speaker 1: But we know that new research has found that ossies

2
00:00:03,160 --> 00:00:09,560
Speaker 1: overwhelmingly support pharmacists being able to provide more professional health services. Now,

3
00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:14,240
Speaker 1: this research has been conducted by independent firm Insightfully, and

4
00:00:14,280 --> 00:00:17,520
Speaker 1: it found that pharmacists were trusted by Australians to provide

5
00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:22,120
Speaker 1: health advice for common, non complex conditions and seventy seven

6
00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:25,040
Speaker 1: percent of people said that they trusted their pharmacists for

7
00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:27,680
Speaker 1: this type of health advice. Now joining me on the

8
00:00:27,720 --> 00:00:29,760
Speaker 1: line to tell us a little bit more about this

9
00:00:29,960 --> 00:00:34,760
Speaker 1: is Pharmacy Guild NT Branch President Peter hats Well. Good

10
00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:35,600
Speaker 1: morning to you, Peter.

11
00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:37,680
Speaker 2: Good morning Katie.

12
00:00:37,680 --> 00:00:39,479
Speaker 1: How are you? Yeah, really well, thanks so much for

13
00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:42,239
Speaker 1: your time this morning, Peter. Now, what else did this

14
00:00:42,360 --> 00:00:43,280
Speaker 1: research find?

15
00:00:45,120 --> 00:00:50,560
Speaker 2: Well, the research found that basically eighty percent of people

16
00:00:50,600 --> 00:00:53,640
Speaker 2: are very comfortable in having a conversation with their pharmacists

17
00:00:53,640 --> 00:00:59,319
Speaker 2: about their medical conditions and seventy seven percent said they

18
00:00:59,320 --> 00:01:04,520
Speaker 2: trusted their pharmacists for their for their for their care.

19
00:01:05,520 --> 00:01:07,840
Speaker 1: And it's pretty common, isn't it. Like you know, whenever

20
00:01:07,880 --> 00:01:10,119
Speaker 1: I go to the to the pharmacy or to the chemist,

21
00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:12,640
Speaker 1: you sort of always see people having conversations with the

22
00:01:12,680 --> 00:01:16,640
Speaker 1: pharmacist about their you know, about their groups, about their medicine,

23
00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:19,840
Speaker 1: about a condition that they might have. And you know,

24
00:01:19,920 --> 00:01:23,199
Speaker 1: I know myself even I've sought advice from the pharmacist before.

25
00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:27,920
Speaker 2: Well, and that's that's the beauty of pharmacists. I guess

26
00:01:27,959 --> 00:01:32,560
Speaker 2: they're they're they're accessible there, they open a lot longer hours,

27
00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:36,119
Speaker 2: you know these days, as most pharmacies are open the weekend,

28
00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:38,919
Speaker 2: some are open even late at night, and they're always

29
00:01:38,920 --> 00:01:40,720
Speaker 2: there for you so that they will come out and

30
00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:42,520
Speaker 2: have a chat for whatever you need.

31
00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:45,959
Speaker 1: And what kind of extra scope are you advocating for

32
00:01:46,040 --> 00:01:47,080
Speaker 1: pharmacists to have.

33
00:01:48,760 --> 00:01:51,840
Speaker 2: Well, there's I think there's a desperate need. I think

34
00:01:52,080 --> 00:01:55,480
Speaker 2: that we do bring pharmacists up to their full scope

35
00:01:55,480 --> 00:01:59,880
Speaker 2: of practice, and that that would involve being able to prescribe, diagnose,

36
00:01:59,880 --> 00:02:04,960
Speaker 2: the prescribe under strict guidelines, but basically for a whole

37
00:02:05,040 --> 00:02:08,400
Speaker 2: range of common and chronic conditions.

38
00:02:09,080 --> 00:02:11,560
Speaker 1: And do you reckon that this would help a meid

39
00:02:11,639 --> 00:02:14,400
Speaker 1: these GP fees that we've seen going up and the

40
00:02:14,480 --> 00:02:17,680
Speaker 1: long waits that we see to see a doctor.

41
00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:22,240
Speaker 2: Well, pharmacists have been doing this in other countries, in

42
00:02:22,320 --> 00:02:25,560
Speaker 2: Canada and the UK and various other birthword countries for

43
00:02:25,639 --> 00:02:29,720
Speaker 2: quite a while where basically we're helping the medical system

44
00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:34,400
Speaker 2: and gps are a hugely valuable resource and they're really

45
00:02:34,840 --> 00:02:37,959
Speaker 2: working so hard, they're so they just don't have enough

46
00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:40,399
Speaker 2: time to see everyone. And it is taking a lot

47
00:02:40,440 --> 00:02:42,920
Speaker 2: longer these days to get in to see a GP.

48
00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:46,240
Speaker 2: And you know, why aren't we use lighting our pharmacists

49
00:02:47,320 --> 00:02:50,600
Speaker 2: people to do what they've really been trained to do.

50
00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:53,160
Speaker 1: And here in the territory, are you sort of facing

51
00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:56,760
Speaker 1: any shortages when it comes to pharmacists or are most

52
00:02:56,800 --> 00:02:59,200
Speaker 1: of those positions pretty well filled?

53
00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:03,600
Speaker 2: No, there is a Shortage's no doubt that we're suffering

54
00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:07,120
Speaker 2: from acute manpower issues as well. But you know where

55
00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:10,639
Speaker 2: we have got, all the shops are being dealt with,

56
00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:14,040
Speaker 2: and you know there is that we do have the capacity,

57
00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:16,440
Speaker 2: I guess, to be able to step up. And you know,

58
00:03:16,560 --> 00:03:21,200
Speaker 2: as as time goes on, more more pharmacists will come

59
00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:24,560
Speaker 2: to this country and join the join the ranks and

60
00:03:24,639 --> 00:03:28,440
Speaker 2: be able to partake in helping out with the needs

61
00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:29,280
Speaker 2: of our patients.

62
00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:31,960
Speaker 1: And Peter, do you reckon that if we did see,

63
00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:34,680
Speaker 1: you know, a greater push for our pharmacists to be

64
00:03:34,760 --> 00:03:36,640
Speaker 1: able to do more, do you think that it would

65
00:03:36,640 --> 00:03:41,000
Speaker 1: ease pressure on emergency departments and GP services.

66
00:03:42,240 --> 00:03:46,880
Speaker 2: It has to sorry, that's right. The pharmacists can deal

67
00:03:46,920 --> 00:03:50,440
Speaker 2: with a lot of the common infections. And you know,

68
00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:55,240
Speaker 2: they say that one in four I think Australians ended

69
00:03:55,280 --> 00:03:58,200
Speaker 2: up in emergency when they couldn't get to see their GP.

70
00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:01,480
Speaker 2: So I mean that that's that's a lot of people,

71
00:04:01,840 --> 00:04:04,840
Speaker 2: and it's you know that you know, if pharmacists can

72
00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:08,400
Speaker 2: cankin of get to that scope of practice and then

73
00:04:08,640 --> 00:04:10,560
Speaker 2: that's going to help and it's certainly going to help

74
00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:13,000
Speaker 2: with the problem we're trying to get to see the

75
00:04:13,040 --> 00:04:13,760
Speaker 2: GP as well.

76
00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:16,560
Speaker 1: Now I understand, I mean I guess as well. In

77
00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:19,400
Speaker 1: addition to that, on the flip side, I imagine that

78
00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:22,200
Speaker 1: there would be concerns that pharmacists are not trained to

79
00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:25,120
Speaker 1: the same level as doctors and perhaps shouldn't have that

80
00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:27,120
Speaker 1: extra scope. I mean, what would you say to people

81
00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:29,800
Speaker 1: listening who have those concerns.

82
00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:36,359
Speaker 2: Wells, doctors, they've got a very important role with the

83
00:04:36,440 --> 00:04:41,200
Speaker 2: diagnosis and treatment of complex conditions. We're not talking about

84
00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:44,880
Speaker 2: the whole range of things that doctors do, and they're

85
00:04:45,160 --> 00:04:48,840
Speaker 2: very very important part of our healthcare system. It's about

86
00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:52,320
Speaker 2: dealing with the things that pharmacists are trained or can

87
00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:55,080
Speaker 2: be trained to do. Now, all the farmacists that are

88
00:04:55,080 --> 00:04:58,200
Speaker 2: coming out of university and they're doing five years in UNI,

89
00:04:58,240 --> 00:05:02,159
Speaker 2: they do get those They are trained with the skills

90
00:05:02,200 --> 00:05:06,520
Speaker 2: of being able to diagnose and treat basic like I said,

91
00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:10,640
Speaker 2: simple acute conditions like a urinary tract infection. So instead

92
00:05:10,640 --> 00:05:14,120
Speaker 2: of going to your pharmacy and getting cranby juice or

93
00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:17,839
Speaker 2: a urinary alkalinizer, they can actually get antibiotics. And this

94
00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:20,479
Speaker 2: is what we're advocating for, and the many other things

95
00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:25,520
Speaker 2: that are simple. And if you know, the prescription the

96
00:05:25,920 --> 00:05:31,040
Speaker 2: work at the pharmacist is would be is has a

97
00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:34,560
Speaker 2: strict guideline. It's constructured prescribing. So if there's any red

98
00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:37,480
Speaker 2: flags that come up during that process, is something that

99
00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:39,919
Speaker 2: doesn't look right, then they will refer them straight on

100
00:05:39,960 --> 00:05:41,960
Speaker 2: to where they you know, where they will get better

101
00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:46,320
Speaker 2: treatment for that what is obviously a more complex condition,

102
00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:49,800
Speaker 2: but most of the time it is when it's a

103
00:05:49,839 --> 00:05:53,480
Speaker 2: simple problem, then it's a simple answer and just work

104
00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:54,280
Speaker 2: in the same way.

105
00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:56,680
Speaker 1: Well, and so often I suppose as well, you know,

106
00:05:56,800 --> 00:05:59,760
Speaker 1: for territory insight, the example that you gave there, you know,

107
00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:02,680
Speaker 1: and retract infection if you're then having to go to

108
00:06:02,760 --> 00:06:06,840
Speaker 1: the GP, and you know, to get that extra appointment

109
00:06:06,839 --> 00:06:09,479
Speaker 1: as well. It's costly for people. It's not only costly,

110
00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:11,680
Speaker 1: but it's it can be difficult to get in to

111
00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:13,960
Speaker 1: see a GP. And if there is a situation where

112
00:06:13,960 --> 00:06:15,960
Speaker 1: it's something that a pharmacist is able to help with,

113
00:06:16,360 --> 00:06:18,160
Speaker 1: it sort of seems like a common sense.

114
00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:22,920
Speaker 2: Approach absolutely a lot of people. I mean these sorts

115
00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:26,440
Speaker 2: of things, and you don't go according to office hours.

116
00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:29,120
Speaker 2: So if you've got a year and retract infection and

117
00:06:29,160 --> 00:06:32,240
Speaker 2: you're in pain or and discomfort or whatever, and you know,

118
00:06:32,320 --> 00:06:35,479
Speaker 2: it just happens to be in the evening or perhaps

119
00:06:35,560 --> 00:06:38,120
Speaker 2: you know the start of the weekend and gps are unavailable.

120
00:06:38,160 --> 00:06:39,960
Speaker 2: Even if they're booked out and you can't get in,

121
00:06:40,360 --> 00:06:42,680
Speaker 2: you will almost always end up in A and E

122
00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:45,800
Speaker 2: and then you've got many hours of wait or we're

123
00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:49,440
Speaker 2: still the person could go without treatment thinking, you know,

124
00:06:49,800 --> 00:06:51,680
Speaker 2: I can't get in for a week or whatever it

125
00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:54,600
Speaker 2: might be, and then go without treatment and then could

126
00:06:54,680 --> 00:06:56,880
Speaker 2: end up with something far more serious that could have

127
00:06:56,920 --> 00:06:59,599
Speaker 2: been so easily treated with a short course of antibiotics.

128
00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:03,320
Speaker 2: Now it is really necessary to be in a hospital,

129
00:07:03,360 --> 00:07:05,479
Speaker 2: and that's just no good for the healthcare system.

130
00:07:05,839 --> 00:07:08,039
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it's a really good point that that

131
00:07:08,240 --> 00:07:10,320
Speaker 1: is being made, and we do know as well that

132
00:07:10,440 --> 00:07:13,920
Speaker 1: it is World Pharmacists Stay today a time to celebrate.

133
00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:17,200
Speaker 1: I guess everything that our pharmacists have done and continue

134
00:07:17,200 --> 00:07:19,960
Speaker 1: to do each and every day for patients right across Australia.

135
00:07:20,680 --> 00:07:22,640
Speaker 1: He sure have we got a lot of pharmacists in

136
00:07:22,680 --> 00:07:23,720
Speaker 1: the Northern Territory.

137
00:07:24,920 --> 00:07:27,280
Speaker 2: Look, there's you know, the Northern Territory doesn't have the

138
00:07:27,280 --> 00:07:29,720
Speaker 2: population basis say in New South Wales or whatever. So

139
00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:33,000
Speaker 2: we've certainly got the right number of pharmacists for the

140
00:07:33,040 --> 00:07:35,960
Speaker 2: population we have, and we've certainly got very very spread

141
00:07:35,960 --> 00:07:40,760
Speaker 2: out population. So there's there are pharmacies in you know,

142
00:07:40,760 --> 00:07:43,400
Speaker 2: a lot of the sort of more regional areas. You've

143
00:07:43,400 --> 00:07:47,200
Speaker 2: got Catherine and Tenor Creek and Alice Springs. So yeah,

144
00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:49,880
Speaker 2: there's there's not as many, but we have we have

145
00:07:50,040 --> 00:07:53,560
Speaker 2: enough to fill the jobs that we need. I think

146
00:07:53,720 --> 00:07:55,400
Speaker 2: the worst thing is is that a lot of the

147
00:07:55,400 --> 00:07:58,160
Speaker 2: pharmacists are really doing it hard. They've certainly done it

148
00:07:58,160 --> 00:08:00,960
Speaker 2: hard during COVID with having to stay open. I mean

149
00:08:01,280 --> 00:08:04,120
Speaker 2: they were an essential service, they were they then you know,

150
00:08:04,520 --> 00:08:07,280
Speaker 2: we should all thank our pharmacists for being there for

151
00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:10,040
Speaker 2: us during such a hard time, putting their own lives

152
00:08:10,040 --> 00:08:12,200
Speaker 2: at risk being seeing it was.

153
00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:14,480
Speaker 1: A good example. It was a good example as well

154
00:08:14,520 --> 00:08:17,640
Speaker 1: though of you know, our pharmacists stepping up and doing

155
00:08:17,640 --> 00:08:19,680
Speaker 1: what was needed at that point in time. And so,

156
00:08:20,360 --> 00:08:22,360
Speaker 1: you know, I think that this research today sort of

157
00:08:22,400 --> 00:08:25,840
Speaker 1: shows you as well the way in which our pharmacists

158
00:08:25,840 --> 00:08:29,040
Speaker 1: could be doing that extra bit and helping the health

159
00:08:29,040 --> 00:08:30,120
Speaker 1: system in general.

160
00:08:31,320 --> 00:08:37,079
Speaker 2: Absolutely, it's pharmacists are a great resource. With the pharmacists

161
00:08:37,080 --> 00:08:39,760
Speaker 2: that are currently working, if they haven't had enough training

162
00:08:39,800 --> 00:08:42,480
Speaker 2: to do full scope of practice is already of course

163
00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:45,520
Speaker 2: being developed now. It's a very extensive and they will

164
00:08:45,559 --> 00:08:48,280
Speaker 2: retro train them so that they are able to do

165
00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:52,400
Speaker 2: the job safely. And yeah, it's it's you know, the

166
00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:55,120
Speaker 2: pharmacists are there, why aren't we utilizing them to their

167
00:08:55,160 --> 00:08:58,720
Speaker 2: full scope when we have that desperate need with you

168
00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:02,520
Speaker 2: know a lack of GPS and and you know rare

169
00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:05,040
Speaker 2: ambulance ramping happening all the time.

170
00:09:05,559 --> 00:09:08,200
Speaker 1: Well, Peter, I really appreciate your time this morning, Thanks

171
00:09:08,200 --> 00:09:10,800
Speaker 1: so much for coming on and having a chat to us.

172
00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:14,800
Speaker 1: And well and and as I said, World Pharmacists Day today,

173
00:09:14,840 --> 00:09:17,000
Speaker 1: a big thank you to you and all the pharmacists

174
00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:18,760
Speaker 1: around the territory for the work that you do.

175
00:09:19,880 --> 00:09:22,320
Speaker 2: Thank you so much, Katie, anytime, thank you