Staffing shortages in the pharmacy industry are leading to burnout and more support is needed, one pharmacist says, and her concerns are being echoed across the sector.
Bronwen Judkins is co-owner of Life Pharmacy Wilkinsons in Queenstown and told Breakfast they had been forced to cut down their opening hours due to worker shortages.
She said her employees' workload has hugely increased "and it's really hard to see an end in sight right now as well."
"We really just need some sort of help with all this... I am quite concerned for all my staff".
Pharmacists aren't on the skilled visa category list, designed to fill workforce shortages with skilled migrants.
Judkins said adding pharmacists to this list would be a big help to the sector.
"We've always struggled to get staff down here so it would be really great if we can get some coming into the country," she said.
Andrew Gaudin, Pharmacy Guild of New Zealand chief executive, told Breakfast "there's obviously a lot of additional workload as a result of the pandemic" and the industry currently faces "more work with fewer staff".
"And certainly what we're hearing from some of the new graduates and interns is they're actually looking to go offshore, particularly Australia where the remuneration's better."
"So not only do we have more work, we also have people thinking about the costs, they're stressed, burnt out and a bit tired, and they're actually looking at their options elsewhere".
He feared that, until those conditions were addressed, New Zealand would struggle to attract foreign pharmacists even if their sector was added to the skilled visa category list.
SHARE ME