Future of Pharmacy In Australia
A paper published by the PSA in May 2010 discussed the viability of pharmacy in Australia. In the paper it is suggested that the current demand for pharmacists has reached a plateau with the balance tipping towards oversupply. Earlier projections suggest the polar opposite. Shortages still exist, however, in small locus areas e.g. rural Australia and apparently hospital pharmacy (1).
Census data for 2006, although dated, totalled the active pharmacy workforce as 15,337 qualified pharmacists, 3737 pharmacy technicians and 27,465 pharmacy assistants (1). One quarter of qualified pharmacists (roughly 5,000) were listed as NOT active. It is this quarter which perplexes the inquisitive mind. Can you be a qualified pharmacist yet not active? Wouldn’t that contravene with the “…continuance of practice..” as required by registered Australian pharmacists? Regardless of the ambiguities we live with, a further concerning issue is what would become of an already dwindling job deficit if those ‘inactive’ pharmacists suddenly became ‘active’ due to economic pressures which are also systemic yet global (1). A serious consideration since the GFC occurred two years after the census data obtained in 2006.
Added to this burden is the rapid growth of pharmacy graduates. In 1985 the population of Australia stood at 15.75 million. In 30-10-2011 the population was 22,747,428. A 44% increase (1,2). In comparison the number of pharmacy graduates per annum has almost quadrupled (400%) from 338 in 1985 to 1,427 in 2007. This number is expected to continue to grow in the short term, with proposals to open at least two more pharmacy schools based in rural areas (1). Where will these graduates find work?
(1) http://www.psa.org.au/site.php?id=5855 – “Issues Paper on the future of pharmacy in Australia” – Published by PSA on 21-05-10
(2) http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs%40.nsf/94713ad445ff1425ca25682000192af2/
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