THE Fair Work Commission is expected to deal with issues plaguing Latrobe Regional Hospital’s pharmacy later this month.
Sources have confirmed another pharmacist resigned from the embattled department less than two weeks ago, following in the steps of numerous colleagues including the former director and deputy director over past months, amid concerns over resource restrictions and compromised patient safety.
Several other former pharmacists have called on State Member for Morwell Russell Northe to intervene.
Meanwhile Health Services Union assistant secretary Paul Elliott said pharmacy staff had been placed in the “untenable position” of being so under-staffed “there is not enough of them to do all the work”, which he said had been recognised by “some” in management, yet one staffer had faced “the very unfair threat of disciplinary action for not being able to complete all her work”.
Mr Elliott said the union also wanted FWC to resolve workload issues – said to have triggered high levels of stress and anxiety among pharmacy workers – and he criticised the “dogmatic view from hospital management that there is not a problem”.
One former pharmacist told The Express pharmacy staff held “well-justified concerns for the safety of patients”, claiming regular daily review of patients’ drug charts and decisions on the appropriateness of their therapy was often impossible for staff to attend to due to the “high patient load for each clinical pharmacist”.
She said under-staffing had, “on plenty of occasions”, meant LRH patients were only being seen by a pharmacist at discharge and “any medication errors or discrepancies that occurred during the patients’ stay in the hospital is unable to be identified and rectified until (this point).”
This scenario was confirmed by another former pharmacist Elaine Maxted, who – in a letter to The Express – warned drug therapy was “highly complex” and “without careful monitoring there can be a risk of serious error”.
Ms Maxted said the current “drastically reduced” staff of four full-time pharmacists “would be unable to provide even a basic clinical service” and asked “where is the concern” from Mr Northe and State Health Minister David Davis.
Mr Northe confirmed he had been approached over the issue by the “family member of a former pharmacist” and recommended, if they were unable to resolve matters directly with LRH management, the “appropriate forum” to lodge a complaint was with Mr Davis or the Health Services Commissioner.
He said “two different parties have different versions of events and a conclusion with respect to these matters is not for me to take a position on” but if there were “genuine concerns” the Health Services Commission could investigate.
Mr Northe said he was aware of the public debate coming from “both sides” and “of course it does give you some concern… we want our hospital executive and board working cohesively with all staff including our pharmacy staff so, hopefully for all parties, this can be resolved satisfactorily in the future”.
STAFFING LEVELS MAINTAINED: CEO
Latrobe Regional Hospital has defended a series of claims levelled at its executive over management of the hospital’s pharmacy in recent months. The following response came from LRH yesterday:
LRH has provided data to the Victorian Pharmacy Authority demonstrating consistent staffing levels in its pharmacy – at the full time equivalent of more than 27 staff – over the past six months.
LRH chief executive Peter Craighead said the hospital had made use of locums to cover several pharmacy departures while undertaking a vigorous recruitment process for permanent replacements.
“The unexpected departure of the pharmacy director and deputy director on 24 May created a challenge, and since then we have had one other resignation and a retirement,” Mr Craighead said.
“People make choices and resign from organisations for a variety of reasons. LRH’s priority has always been to ensure that we continue to deliver efficient pharmacy services through such times.”
Mr Craighead said staff numbers for March through to August showed the EFT staffing level had been maintained over that period.
“In line with LRH’s strong commitment to medication safety and the delivery of high quality care, we engaged a number of locums and immediately commenced a recruitment process,” he said.
“We have now appointed a very experienced and well respected pharmacist as our new director. He joins us in October.
“We received a large number of applications for grade two and three vacancies.
“Interviews have been completed and we expect to be making offers this week to the preferred candidates to fill all vacancies.
“LRH will continue to use locum coverage until the new appointees commence.”
Mr Craighead said staff in the pharmacy had been provided with regular information updates and supported by the chief medical officer and the director of corporate services in recent months.
“It is disappointing that some people continue to talk down the service by making unfounded accusations, while the vast majority have continued to work as a team to deliver these vital services to our community,” Mr Craighead said.
He confirmed the Health Services Union had lodged a dispute with the Fair Work Commission and said “LRH looks forward to the opportunity to respond to the numerous wrong assertions made by the union”.
“We also strongly deny there have been any threats of disciplinary action against any pharmacy staff member,” Mr Craighead said.
“We have continued to discuss workload issues with staff, recognising the difficult situation and encouraging them to prioritise services daily on an as-needs basis.”
