Published by Computachem Services

P.O Box 297.
Alstonville. 2477
NSW Australia

Phone:
61 2 66285138

"Consultant pharmacy, in the country, is difficult to implement" or so I was told during a country visit made last week.
The large country town I was in has no less than four accredited consultant pharmacists, two of whom spent time telling me how hard it is to carry out reviews due to lack of locum cover.
The perception, held by both pharmacists and the local division of general practice, is that it is impossible to attract pharmacists to the bush

I heard tales of having only one locum in the whole area, who is booked out months ahead, making it impossible to find the time to get out of the shop to visit patients.
My thought was "How can consultant pharmacy survive in rural settings?", given the difficulty of attracting pharmacists to the country.
My whole train of thought was turned on its head by Ayron Teed's article, in the September newsletter, on running a country business solely with locums.
Shows what can be done when you "think outside the square" and approach a problem from a different angle. Ayron, it seems, has no trouble enticing pharmacists out of the big smoke to work in a country town
Why these perceptions are so startlingly different is difficult to comprehend and I've spent a deal of time trying to reconcile them.
Perception is reality to those holding that point of view, but is it?
Possibly the lack of relief for the consultants is due to lack of ongoing work in town for interested pharmacists.
Single pharmacist businesses will always find it hard to expand services to encompass more "intellectual" roles unless they can find innovative ways of overcoming the problem.
One, not so innovative, solution is to actually employ more pharmacists on a permanent basis.
Why not a group of pharmacies employing a pharmacist between them to provide regular cover?
I know - "you can't attract pharmacists to the country" is the cry.
Rubbish!
There are figures to show that there are more registered pharmacists in Australia than positions unfilled. The main problem is that not enough pharmacists are willing to join the rat race that is current community pharmacy.
Make conditions more conducive to professional fulfilment and it will become easier to find sufficient staff. The challenge facing rural consultant pharmacists is to create a positive environment for pharmacists wanting to work in a professional capacity.
Last week end I attended the SHPA WA State Branch Conference, again realising the scope of activities seen in hospital pharmacy.
It is true to say, however, that even in hospitals it is difficult to attract sufficient pharmacists.
Huge workloads and relatively poor pay are underlying causes of this problem, leading to about 15% of positions being vacant.
I continue to be amazed at the number of very good pharmacists who, despite the underlying negatives, choose to work in the hospital sector, lending some credence to my argument that if you create the correct environment you can still attract highly skilled professionals.