THE NSW Health Minister has committed to allowing pharmacists to deliver vaccines, and doctors are not pleased.
Pharmacists are pushing for the decision to be extended to cover all routine immunisation — outraging the state's doctors who say it would put children at risk.
On December 2 the NSW Branch of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia announced Health Minister Jillian Skinner told them she would support their push to deliver immunisations in pharmacies.
Mrs Skinner told Fairfax Media she supported allowing them to deliver specific vaccines such as the flu vaccine, provided they were adequately trained.
"This service could only be provided by registered pharmacists who have met national competency standards to provide a vaccination service, including training on administration of vaccines and the management of reactions to vaccination such as fainting or, on rare occasions, anaphylaxis," she said.
Discussions between the pharmacists and NSW Health have been going on for months, but have been stuck on the training required, and Mrs Skinner confirmed a roll-out date had not yet been decided on.
Steven Drew, the NSW branch director of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, said a trial of pharmacist-delivered vaccines in Queensland had successfully immunised 11,000 people and had now been expanded to include the measles and whooping cough vaccines.
Pharmacists received a two-day face-to-face and online training course, which, he said, was comprehensive.
"Pharmacists study for a minimum of four years, they are not dummies ... there is nothing about doctors that makes them better placed [to immunise people]," he said.
"You can walk into a pharmacy and get it done in about half an hour — we are talking about a level of convenience and accessibility that is unparalleled".
The head of the NSW Australian Medical Association, Saxon Smith, said doctors would fight the move "tooth and nail".
"Is two days training adequate to be able to deal with serious adverse reactions? I don't think so."
Do you support the push to allow pharmacies to deliver immunisations?
