A pharmacy owner is “baffled” Rotorua has been excluded from a Government initiative that provides free consultations and treatments for some minor illnesses this winter.
Her views are echoed by other Rotorua pharmacies who say the programme would be “very beneficial” to the population as some medication is expensive to buy. Tauranga is part of the scheme and pharmacists there say it’s had a slow start but has been helpful.
Te Whatu Ora - Health NZ says its priority areas were decided based on relevant measures, and pharmacies in other locations can still provide advice to customers with minor ailments.
The Community Pharmacy Minor Ailments Service was announced by Health Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall last month as part of a winter plan led by Te Whatu Ora - Health NZ.
Children under the age of 14, a whānau member of a child under 14 with the same symptoms, community service card holders and Māori and Pacific people can get free consultations and receive funded treatments for certain minor ailments between June 12 and September 30.
Ailments include acute diarrhoea, eye infections, fever, headaches and minor skin infections.
According to the Te Whatu Ora website, the initiative aimed to increase access to pharmacist consultations and reduce pressure on primary and hospital services “in areas recognised as consistently and persistently experiencing system pressure”.
Participating pharmacies in selected approved health regions - Northland, Auckland, Bay of Plenty, MidCentral, Wellington and Hutt Valley, Canterbury and Southland - could opt-in to deliver the service.
Ranolf Pharmacy owner Charlotte Schimanski said it was a “missed opportunity” for Rotorua and it was “devastating” that people were missing out on accessing treatments without having to see a doctor and with no charge.
In her view: “I am absolutely baffled as to why Lakes has been excluded - unless the programme has been set up to fail.
“Imagine how much GP/Emergency Department time is saved by our communities being able to access these treatments directly from their pharmacy. Imagine how many more people might access this system with access barriers removed?”
Ngongotahā Pharmacy co-owner Kirsty Croucher said it would be a “huge benefit” to Rotorua.
“They currently come into the pharmacy for advice because we are available to them and we have relationships with a lot of people in our area so it’s easy for them to call in and see us if they are unwell.”
Croucher said “a lot” of people went in with minor ailments and needed medicine such as paracetamol.
“And it’s expensive to buy it and it does make a difference to people if they are unwell.
“We’re aware of our own limits so we would refer anything that needs referral to the GPs.”
Croucher said people were becoming aware of it as the scheme had been promoted and on the news.
“Even though they have said in those articles that it’s not in our area, it’s still hard for people to understand that.”
Unichem Rotorua Central Pharmacy owner David Honore said it was a “shame” it was not rolled out in Rotorua but hoped the pilot programme showed it was “very beneficial” to the national population.
“It’s another good example of community pharmacy services that they can provide.”
In Tauranga, Tara Road Pharmacy pharmacist Kate Milne said the programme had been “really good” and she helped a family with head lice through the service.
“We managed to do it for all the kids but if you’re buying head lice treatment for everyone, it does add up really quickly.”
Life Pharmacy Bayfair pharmacist Michael Taylor said it had been a “fairly slow start” as he believed the public was not yet aware of it.
Most of the people the pharmacy had offered the ailment services to were those asking for advice. The pharmacy was then able to supply treatments for free, Taylor said.
“It’s kind of been more of an opportunistic thing so far.”
“I know the original intention of the Government’s side was to try and reduce the load on GP practices and secondary care and it’s probably not doing that yet because of the lack of knowledge in the public.
“In general, it’s definitely a good thing and for pharmacy long-term, it’ll be a great way of getting people aware of the sort of stuff we can normally offer anyway.”
Te Whatu Ora commissioning interim regional wayfinder for the northern region, Danny Wu, said it understood some pharmacists outside of its priority areas would like to be part of the scheme and acknowledged other hospitals were also experiencing pressure.
“However, these areas were identified following an assessment of relevant measures relating to hospital flow - such as how long people spend in ED, hospital occupancy and long stays - and broader health system constraints, such as primary and community care providers.”
Wu said pharmacies could still provide advice on treating minor health conditions, even if people did not live in one of the areas.
Work was under way in all regions to respond to system pressures. All regions had their own plan to support their communities over winter, specific to health pressures and local needs, he said.
Wu said the initiative would monitor if it reduced attendance of patients for minor ailments at general practices and emergency departments as there was no experience with such a programme.
Almost 11,000 people had accessed the service with 87 per cent of eligible pharmacies signing up to offer the service, he said.
Wu said it had worked with local teams on targeted communications for eligible groups, including school and Te Whatu Ora newsletters, social media posts, Primary Health Organisations, general practice and Māori and Pacific providers. Further planned activity included print advertising, street posters and flyers.
Megan Wilson is a health and general news reporter for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has been a journalist since 2021.
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