Australian oversupply heading here?

A predicted oversupply of pharmacists in Australia is prompting concern about the flow-on impact in New Zealand.

A workforce model has predicted a sharp oversupply of pharmacists in Australia by 2025, according to Australian website Pharmacy News. The model estimates there will be an excess of 2009 pharmacists in Australia within five years, rising to 2594 by 2020 and 3582 by 2025.

Dean of the Auckland School of Pharmacy John Shaw says this could have a significant impact on New Zealand pharmacy, because under the Trans Tasman Mutual Recognition Arrangement Australian pharmacists cannot be prevented from registering in New Zealand.

As well as a potential influx of Australian pharmacists, Professor Shaw says expatriate New Zealand pharmacists may be less likely to find employment in Australia, which could compound the problem.

He tells Pharmacy Today the projected oversupply does not surprise him, given the rising number of pharmacy schools in Australia – from six in 1999 to 16 today.

“There seems to be no control in Australia on who can open a pharmacy school and how many they can take,” Professor Shaw says.

By comparison, New Zealand, with its two pharmacy schools for a population of 4.2 million, has more stringent guidelines, he says. Both the Otago and Auckland pharmacy schools have capped first year entry – at 150 and 100 respectively.

Before a university course can be established in New Zealand, it must first go through the Committee on University Academic Programmes, which sets out criteria to determine the need for the course. The Tertiary Education Commission provides another check, capping the number of students the Government will fund. In addition, the newly established Health Workforce New Zealand is designed to provide the tertiary sector with data on projected requirements for doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other health professionals, Professor Shaw says.

Chief executive and registrar of the Pharmacy Council Bronwyn Clark says, when Australia removed pharmacy from its skilled occupation list in May this year, the council received a “flurry of enquiries” from overseas pharmacists looking for work, but this has since subsided. The register of practising pharmacists has remained relatively stable over the last few years, suggesting there may not be an oversupply of pharmacists, Ms Clark says.

While workforce planning is not a statutory function of the council, it would respond if there was a noted increase in the number of pharmacists making contact to look for work, she says, adding the council is watching the Australian situation carefully.

Meanwhile, dean of the Otago School of Pharmacy Stephen Duffull does not believe there is currently a local oversupply of pharmacists. While he accepts there may be too many pharmacists in the main cities, this comes down to a distribution problem.

“When we get to the stage where all our rural positions are filled, then we have a glut,” Professor Duffull says. RL

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Diversification key

Pharmacist and Pharma Projects director Natalie Gauld believes a potential oversupply of pharmacists provides the profession with an opportunity to diversify.

While Ms Gauld believes New Zealand needs to investigate the number of graduates coming through pharmacy school, she would also like to see more pharmacists extending their scope of practice to include medicines use review and other clinical services.

Of the current 722 pharmacists who have gone through Medicines Use Review training, only 239 are accredited, according to programmes manager at the New Zealand College of Pharmacists Bob Buckham.

As well as MURs, Ms Gauld says pharmacists could be involved in minor ailment schemes, allowing doctors to focus on more complicated health needs.

“We’ve got some good graduates coming out who can take the pressure off workforce issues in health,” she says.

There are now more medicines available without a prescription, so having a pharmacist in front of the dispensary is a positive move, Ms Gauld adds.

Similarly, the president of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia Kos Sclavos told the Australian website Pharmacy News an estimated oversupply of 3582 pharmacists by 2025 is evidence the profession has the capacity to increase its scope of practice. RL

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