It’s been busy in local pharmacies recently, according to local pharmacist Jaga Maitland-Smith, from ChemPro at Lismore Centro. He wants to make sure he can continue to supply essential medicines to people who need them, and wants people to stop panicking and stockpiling medicines.

He also told The Lismore App that new prescription dispensing arrangements made by the Federal Government do not mean that people can “bully” pharmacists into handing out medications. 

The recent announcement by the Government will allow Australians access to essential medicines at PBS prices, without a prescription, in a “one off” emergency during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Pharmaceutical Society of Australia national president Associate Professor Chris Freeman said the dispensing arrangements will continue until at least the end of June, along with the implementation of medicine substitution when medicines are out of stock.

However, pharmacist Mr Maitland-Smith said it wasn’t as easy as just coming into the chemist if you had a prescription that ran out a week ago.

“If you are having a hard time getting in to see your doctor to get a prescription renewed, the doctor can send a fax to us and we can get the hard copy of the prescription later,” he said.

“If your prescription ran out a week age and you still have 20 day supply, we don’t want to be bullied into giving scripts. If you are about to run out in a day or two, or have just run out and have been getting it from that pharmacy, that’s an ok situation.”

Mr Maitland-Smith said that some aspects of the health care system are actually better now than before Covid-19, with the Medicare subsidised telehealth service now available to all Australians who can’t get in to see a doctor in person.

“Lots of doctors are doing appointments online now by phone or video, and can fax scripts to pharmacies,” he said. 

“Lismore was a surge area before Covd-19, with people often waiting weeks to get in to see a doctor, but now, some surgeries in town are more timely and efficient than normal.”

Frantic

Mr Maitland-Smith said the last fortnight in his pharmacy has been “frantic”, but things are finally quietening down.

“We’ve started doing home deliveries for all customers with scripts on file on Mondays and Thursdays – or posting scripts to them,” he said.

“There are still people walking in through the doors to get scripts filled because they are shopping for groceries at Woolies next door – but there’s less people, and they are spaced out, so the overall risk has dropped significantly.”

Stockpiles

Mr Maitland-Smith said he was upset recently when he saw an ABC news program which had interviewed a Lismore woman who complained that there were no asthma puffers available in the whole of Lismore because people had been panic buying and stocking up the medicines.

“At the time, I had 1500 asthma puffers in stock and nobody called me to ask if any puffers were there,” he said.

“There were gaps in some stocks of things like face masks for a while, but we are limiting the number people can buy now, as are all pharmacies. 

“We need to make sure we maintain continuity of supply and limit amounts people can buy so everybody’s needs are met.

“Pharmacies actually have greater holdings than they normally would right now – it’s just taking time for stock to get to shops – just like there’s enough food, but it takes time for it to get from the warehouses, them onto the shelves.

“In the past, we’ve never run out of medicines because people are cautious and alert and don’t stockpile.

“Even if we go into full lockdown, pharmacies and grocery stores will not close and you will always be able to access food and medicines – so don’t panic and don’t over-buy.”