Pharmacies saw just a 2.5 percent increase in funding this year. Photo: 123RF
Pressure is mounting on pharmacies to provide additional health services, as patients struggle to access GPs.
Pharmaceutical Society (PSNZ) president Michael Hammond told Checkpoint that these pharmacy services, which would otherwise be taken on by GPs, need government funding.
Without it, pharmacies were struggling to meet demand, Hammond said.
"Our workloads at present are currently insurmountable. There are so many pressures on our pharmacy teams to deliver and they are doing, all they can," he said.
Earlier this year the government piloted a scheme to fund minor ailment treatment at certain pharmacies to reduce pressure on the health system over winter.
Pharmacists swamped with patients who don't have GP access
Since then, calls have been made to continue the service.
"For another $30 million annually, which when we look at it, is a small fraction of the overall health budget, we would be able to roll out a national minor conditions service and this would be a huge benefit to patients and their families," Hammond said.
It would take a "huge amount of pressure off GPs" and allow them to focus on more serious health conditions, he said.
Pharmacies saw just a 2.5 percent increase in funding this year, which was half of what Te Whatu Ora figures showed the sector needed.
This has put community pharmacies under massive pressure, Pharmacy Guild chief executive Andrew Gaudin told Nine To Noon in October.
"Community pharmacy owners are definitely facing increased struggles to pay their bills," Gaudin said.
The fact that these minor ailment services are not funded also impacts patients, he said.
"Some pharmacies will be charging for minor health services, and they are entitled to do so because its not publicly funded."
A PSNZ survey showed that over the past 12 months, 94 percent of community pharmacies have experienced staff shortages.
"There is a need to review the overall funding of pharmacies and primary care as a whole," Hammond said.