Whangarei pharmacist Iain Buchanan says there has been an increase in patients coming to pharmacists for medical attention and advice. Photo / Michael Cunningham Photography
Whangarei pharmacist Iain Buchanan says there has been an increase in patients coming to pharmacists for medical attention and advice. Photo / Michael Cunningham Photography
The region’s pharmacists are increasingly providing medical care and advice to patients amid long GP wait times.
A recent Pharmaceutical Society (PSNZ) workforce survey found an 80% increase in requests from community pharmacy patients unable to access a general practice. A 54% increase in requests for advice on minor conditions and a 43% increase in requests for advice for more serious conditions.
Whangārei pharmacist Iain Buchanan, who has been in the business for over 30 years and now runs Unichem Buchanans Pharmacy in Tikipunga — a business that was previously his father’s — says he’s seen this trend grow over the past 12 months.
“We are seeing a wider range of questions and a variety of complex patient interactions. There is definitely an increase and would agree with those figures.”
It’s putting a bit of a strain on pharmacists. While our retail team does triage patients well and only sends them to the pharmacist, when necessary, we are still spending more time with patients.”
He said many of their patients were feeling the effects of the long GP wait times.
“Some people are not even bothering to call doctors because they feel they may not get an appointment, but if we deem they need to see a doctor we will educate them and give them assurance that they can be seen by a doctor.”
Buchanan and his team go above and beyond to ensure that patients are well taken care of.
“We can end up spending up to 20 minutes of the pharmacy time with a patient, and maybe even 10 minutes of retail time and then there’s making sure they are able to get to a doctor, etc. You are not funded for that so you have to sell something over the counter to pay wages ... we shouldn’t have to have a sausage sizzle outside to raise funds.”
The more common afflictions that see people coming in include mild fevers, skin conditions such as eczema, conjunctivitis and wounds.
“If we see it’s something waiting to happen, we ring their medical centre, discuss with that GP reception and organise for them to see a doctor.”
Buchanan said the minor ailment scheme made a big difference.
“At least we were being funded so we could allow for extra staff to cope with the demand.”
The Minor Health Conditions Service pilot ran from June 12 to September 30 last year in Northland, Auckland, Bay of Plenty, MidCentral, Capital & Coast, Hutt Valley, Canterbury, Invercargill, Southland and Gore.
Te Whatu Ora set aside $6 million to fund pharmacists in those regions to consult and provide free over the counter treatment for seven approved conditions: acute diarrhoea, dehydration, fever, infected and red eye, scabies, head lice and eczema.
The scheme was targeted, and only Māori and Pasifika patients, under-14s and their whānau, and Community Services Card holders were eligible.
Nearly 120,000 people accessed the service through over 700 pharmacies and Te Whatu Ora has now released its evaluation report of the project.
Another pharmacist, who isn’t named, said the scheme was well received and allowed patients to get treatment for minor conditions for themselves and their whānau from pharmacists.
“Funding and staff shortages in community pharmacies means teams are under pressure with staff and owners working long hours to ensure they meet the needs of their patients, which is causing its own set of problems (as per recent studies, burnout, etc).”
“Patients have always seen their local pharmacist as a good source of clinically sound advice on their health conditions and needs. This can be for acute infections, especially over winter, or even for regular medications.”
“Without the close working relationships pharmacists have with GPs and GP practices, it would be much more challenging.”
PSNZ president Michael Hammond said nationally their members had agreed that there had been a significant increase in requests for healthcare advice for both minor conditions and major health conditions.
“While we are seeing a shift in pharmacists providing more services, it’s on top of an already heavy workload.
President of the Pharmaceutical Society of New Zealand Michael Hammond says nationally their members have agreed that there’s been a significant increase in requests for both minor conditions and major health conditions. Photo / Mark Coote
“It’s important pharmacists and technicians who work in the sector are supported and funded appropriately to keep New Zealanders and our health system healthy. There is an urgent need to address the inadequate funding of the sector. With more resources, we could do so much more.
“The health system also needs to do more to educate the public so they understand what pharmacists can do to help by intervening early and providing easier access to care and professional advice.”
Pharmacy Guild chief executive, Andrew Gaudin, said many community pharmacists were seeing patients coming to them for advice as they were not able to access timely GP appointments.
Pharmacy Guild Chief Executive, Andrew Gaudin, said many community pharmacists are seeing patients coming to them for advice.
“Community pharmacy has always been the first place many patients visited for minor health conditions, to check if a GP appointment was necessary — with pharmacy playing a vital, but unfunded, triage and referral role.”
The Government piloted the minor health conditions service, from June to September last year, it was extended in Northland and continued until June.
Gaudin said pharmacists were positive about the service, which utilised their clinical skills, with a high level of satisfaction in providing the service.
“We continue to strongly support a nationwide minor health conditions service available via community pharmacies and will use the results of the evaluation report to continue advocating for this.”
A spokesperson for Health NZ Te Whatu Ora said they were addressing the rural workforce shortage, as it was key to improving access to health services in remote and harder-to-reach communities, such as in Northland.
“To support the rural workforce, we have a number of initiatives under way, including: accommodation allowance for GP trainees who live within 30km of their rural practice, strengthening GP training pathways and supporting the establishment of a GP locum service and supporting locum placements in rural areas.
The spokesperson said the objectives of the scheme were to improve access to consultation and treatment, promote care and reduce pressure on GPp practices, urgent care and emergency departments.
“Health NZ recently completed its evaluation of the service, which found evidence that improved access to care, and promotion of care, through community pharmacy was partially or fully achieved. There was no strong evidence that the service reduced pressure on general practice, urgent care, or emergency departments. However, with suitable development, the service may have potential to reduce pressure on other parts of the health system.”
The development of an “enduring MHCS will be considered as part of our Primary Care Development work programme, with sector engagement”.
