Victorians are telling us something loud and clear: it’s getting harder to access healthcare services. They want practical solutions that help them get the care they need sooner.
According to opinion research by Insightfully Research and commissioned by The Pharmacy Guild of Australia, Victoria (‘The Guild’), one in four Victorians reported attending a hospital emergency department in the past three years because they could not get a GP appointment. That figure rises to 31 percent in regional communities.
Victorians rate health as one of their most important concerns, with 74 percent of respondents saying faster and more convenient access to frontline healthcare is a critical concern for them and their family.
Guild Victoria Branch President George Tambassis said, “The challenge facing patients is not whether they value their GP. They do. The challenge is that too many people are waiting too long for care they need today.”
That is where community pharmacies are making a difference. Community pharmacists have earned a unique place in Australia's healthcare system. By delivering services such as vaccinations, pharmacists are expanding access to timely care, reducing pressure on other parts of the health system, and helping patients receive treatment closer to home.
The expanding Chemist Care Now program is helping Victorians access safe, timely treatment through healthcare professionals they already know and trust. Eighty percent of Victorians trust pharmacists to provide advice and treatment for a wider range of common conditions.
Victorians overwhelmingly support an expanded role for community pharmacists. Almost nine in ten (87%) back pharmacists treating more conditions when appropriately trained and operating to professional standards, with support increasing to 89% once people understand the breadth of services pharmacists can provide.
The strongest support emerges when people think about everyday healthcare needs. Around 90 percent are comfortable receiving care from a pharmacist for allergies and hayfever, 88 percent for minor wound care, 86 percent for common skin conditions and 85 percent for immunisations. By making greater use of pharmacists’ skills and expertise, these services can often be safely managed in a community pharmacy, saving patients time while reducing pressure on the healthcare system.
Importantly, trust is highest among those who use the health system most: concession card holders, carers, people living with disability, retirees and those who have already experienced difficulties accessing a GP.
“These are precisely the patients who stand to benefit most from faster access to primary care,” said George Tambassis.
Victorians don’t only trust pharmacists in principle. They are backing them in practice.
Victorians trust their pharmacists. Patients want faster access to care. Chemist Care Now is helping deliver it.
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