The Australian Pharmacy Guild is urging Australians to turn to pharmacists for everyday health services - as GP wait lists continue to increase. New data reveals 1 in 10 people are waiting more than three weeks for a GP appointment. National President, Trent Twomey, says people should talk to their pharmacists for less-severe health conditions.
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00:00There's a range of common everyday health conditions that are unnecessarily blocking
00:06up our emergency departments and contributing to those wait times to see our precious general
00:11practitioners. We would love to see more GPs. Who doesn't love their local family doctor?
00:16My wife and I and our children certainly do. But we all know how difficult it is to not
00:20only find one, find one that bulk bills, but find one that hasn't closed their books and
00:25can take an appointment. And that's just not in the bush. That's in our major capital cities
00:30as well, whether it's after six o'clock at night or on a weekend when your local pharmacy
00:34is open. We've seen Australians turn to their local community pharmacy for assistance for
00:38everyday health conditions for generations. But what we're seeing now is state and territory
00:44governments finally acknowledge that the 6,000 community pharmacies around Australia staffed
00:49by pharmacists and pharmacy assistants, highly skilled, highly trained and highly trusted
00:54can do more. So not only are we providing vaccinations, we're not only are we providing
01:00a short course of antibiotics for uncomplicated urinary tract infections, but now many Australians
01:06can ask their pharmacist for a prescription for their hormonal contraception.