South-west Sydney pharmacists bear the brunt as GPs close doors

Pharmacists in south-west Sydney say they are bearing the brunt of huge workloads and overstretched staff as general practices move to telehealth and more people rely on chemists for medical care.

There have been 27 pharmacies in Greater Sydney identified as COVID-19 exposure sites in the past two weeks as chemists say medicines need to be delivered or dispensed outside to keep staff safe.

Barone Pharmacy staff in Fairfield. Credit:Louise Kennerley

Catherine Bronger, pharmacist and owner of the 24-hour Chemistworks in Wetherill Park, said she was rotating 60 staff, including a permanent on-call pharmacist, for when employees had to quarantine and the shop was identified as an exposure site.

“We’ve had 10 positive cases come in the pharmacy in the last two weeks,” said Ms Bronger. “All our staff are in full PPE, we are doing deliveries and all cold and flu medication is now all sold online or being picked up in the carpark. It’s been really difficult to operate.”

Pharmacist Cat Bronger outside Chemistworks in Wetherill Park on Wednesday.Credit:Louise Kennerley

Ms Bronger said despite staff screening customers with temperature checking, asking questions and making sure QR codes were used, “we are still getting patients coming in for cold or flu preparations that are now tested positive”.

“Most medical centres around us have gone online but pharmacies have to stay open. We give patients access to their medication and if they don’t get it, they will end up in the hospital system. Every day, we’re trying to find the balance of keeping staff and customers safe while staying open.”

Pharmacy Guild vice-president Trent Twomey said traditional pharmacy services such as vaccinations, prescription medicines and healthcare advice needed to keep running but people were coming into pharmacies who “would ordinarily be presenting to general practice and emergency departments”.

“It’s a very risky environment â€" people are coming in sick and we need more support,” said Ms Brogner. “I’ve had to buy PPE, which is costly to the business, and the deep cleans we’ve had to do come out of our pocket. And we’re expected to stay open.”

Ms Bronger believes the pharmacy network has been under-utilised throughout the pandemic, particularly since the start of the vaccine rollout when the convenience of “walking into a pharmacy and getting a vaccine” could have boosted uptake.

Fairfield pharmacist Mario Barone said his staff were at the “coalface trying to explain to people what’s going on, explaining to people in multiple languages what they need to do”.

Barone Pharmacy staff wearing PPE in Fairfield.Credit:Louise Kennerley

“There’s a lack of health literacy and some confusion in terms of what to do if you are a casual contact or if you have symptoms,” said Mr Barone.

“The people in Fairfield come from so many different backgrounds and you have to spend a lot of time with them because English is often not their first language and there is a lack of health literacy.

“We’ve actually made up signs throughout the store in Arabic as well as English but it would have been good to get more support from the state government to be able to communicate to all different communities in the area.”

Mr Barone has closed his shop and is “only serving people outside. It’s hard when all doctors are shutting their doors and people still want face-to-face contact. And we’re having to stay open because that’s what we do, and we’ve been in the community for 50 years.”

Mr Barone said while pharmacists in his business have been vaccinated, many pharmacy staff under 40 have had challenges accessing a vaccine.

Lucy Carroll is a reporter covering health for The Sydney Morning Herald.

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