The Pharmacy Guild of Australia, Queensland Branch, has welcomed the record $23.6B in health spending announced in the State Budget by the Palaszczuk Government.
Pharmacy Guild of Australia, Queensland Branch President Chris Owen said the investment in front-line health care would give a shot in the arm to Queensland's health system.
"This welcome increase of $1.16B in health spending on the operating budget by the Palaszczuk Government will help deliver more health services right across the state," said Mr. Owen, "in particular, we applaud the commitment to hire 9450 health workers over the next four years.
"In the last two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has seen front-line services put under enormous strain and our front-line health workers have demonstrated over and over why they are held in such high esteem. This funding will certainly go a long way in alleviating some of the pressures," Mr. Owen said.
Mr. Owen said the Palaszczuk Government also deserved to be congratulated for the innovative approach to health care that saw more health care professionals practicing to their full scope.
"Throughout the pandemic, Queensland has led the way in enabling the whole health care system to pull together to achieve excellent results," said Mr. Owen.
"In community pharmacy, we've seen this through the Queensland Government enabling pharmacists to be front and centre in the efforts to get Queenslanders vaccinated against COVID-19 and also with the recent roll-out of influenza vaccines through community pharmacy.
"In the past 24 months, more than 1.4 million vaccines have been administered through Queensland community pharmacy," said Mr. Owen.
Mr. Owen said that community pharmacists were looking forward to continuing to partner with the Queensland Government's efforts to improve Queenslander's access to vital health care services.
"In particular, we welcome the Palaszczuk Government's commitment to rolling out Full Scope of Practice Trial in North Queensland as well as the release of the final independent outcomes report into the Urinary Tract Infection Pharmacy Pilot – Queensland (UTIPP-Q), which has seen over 8,190 treatments provided for uncomplicated UTIs at Queensland community pharmacies.
"Allowing health professionals to practice to their full scope will take the pressure off our hospital's emergency departments," said Mr. Owen. "We've already seen this through the UTIPP-Q, and clinical outcomes in New Zealand, Canada and the United Kingdom also demonstrate that allowing community pharmacists to practice to their full scope ensures patients will get the care they need in the time needed."
"The bottom line is this, it makes no sense for Queenslanders to have to suffer due to a lack of access to a GP or emergency department. Community pharmacy looks forward to partnering with the Palaszczuk Government to ensure community pharmacists can do more to deliver front-line health care services to more Queenslanders and take the pressure off hospital emergency departments," said Mr. Owen.
