It has become apparent that a large challenge in community pharmacy is the paperwork attached to providing medicines. Immunising customers with the flu vaccine is a great way to increase access to vaccines and make some money but has increased this challenge for pharmacists.
Every vaccine is given and then must be recorded in the National Immunisation Register. The actual recording itself takes time and is meant to be done by the pharmacist who vaccinated.
In the GP setting, I have checked in on this record and it seems to be done by anyone in the business including the receptionist of a practice.
I have reached out to The Pharmaceutical Society who have quashed the idea of anyone outside a pharmacy completing this task... their email states that I don't seem to understand the process well enough and my request doesn't make sense. I remind them, I too am a pharmacist and I too have done my vaccination course. I understand this process, it is not rocket science and I understand that at the locum jobs I attend, I am seeing the pile of records mount up week after week!
The idea of having a team entering these details offsite makes perfect sense and I have the business in Pharmacy Recruit to orchestrate it happening.
It is no different from the consultation, child protection policies, and police vetting we are currently doing off-site for NZ pharmacies.
The question is... who would use the service and how much would they pay for it?
I have a team of trained technicians and pharmacists who are looking from work and can work from home to enter these records... some candidates are looking for a slower pace and in fact, would cherish the work from home piece.
How do we ensure our Society doesn't quash innovation? I'll keep you posted!
