More than three-quarters of Australia’s pharmacies were not “adequately staffed” to deal with the pressures of the Omicron surge, leaving thousands of employees stressed and burned out according to a new survey.
Pharmacists were left to deal with hundreds of phone calls an hour asking for rapid antigen tests while doing 80 vaccinations a day. This was on top of the regular workload of filling scripts, leaving morale in the sector at an “all-time low”.
Pharmacists are renewing calls for the federal government to make rapid antigen tests free and accessible at more points of care to keep pressure off the sector in the event of another outbreak.
A new survey, carried out by Professional Pharmacists of Australia, found the majority of employee pharmacists were stressed, exhausted and undersupported.
Chief executive officer Jill McCabe said the severe shortage of rapid antigen tests, brought about by a lack of preparation by the government, had had a “significant” or “extreme” impact on 75 per cent of pharmacists.
“For over two years, day-in, day-out, pharmacists have been on the frontline in the battle against Covid-19, providing vaccinations, dispensing medications and providing information and other services to support the community’s health and wellbeing throughout the pandemic,” Ms McCabe said.
“The lack of adequate preparation for dealing with the Omicron variant led to a massive increase in the demand for pharmacy services, and already-stretched employee pharmacists have reached breaking point.
“Over 79 per cent of pharmacists said their pharmacy was not adequately staffed to deal with the increased demands on it.”
Ms McCabe said pharmacists’ vaccination workload had also increased exponentially in a short period of time as axjmtzyw culmination of reduced waiting times for booster shots and the rollout of the child vaccination program.
“Eighty-six per cent of pharmacists reported the vaccine rollout was having a ‘significant’ or ‘extreme’ impact on their workloads,” she said.
“We’re also shocked that 91 per cent of employee pharmacists who administer the vaccination did not receive any extra payment for doing so when pharmacy employers have received federal government payments for delivering Covid-19 vaccinations.
“Unsurprisingly, morale in the pharmacy sector is at its lowest, with over two-thirds of pharmacists feeling either ‘very negative’ or ‘negative’ about their working experience in pharmacy’.”
Ms McCabe said the organisation would continue its calls for the federal government to make rapid antigen tests free and accessible, which would help reduce some pressure.
