PHARMACISTS AT BREAKING POINT AS STAFFING CRISIS DEEPENS ACROSS NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR
๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
๐๐ญ. ๐๐จ๐ก๐งโ๐ฌ, ๐๐ โ The Association of Allied Health Professionals (AAHP) is sounding the alarm on a rapidly escalating crisis, warning that severe staffing shortages among pharmacists in the public sector, excessive demands and uncompetitive pay are pushing the health care system to a breaking point and jeopardizing patient care.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ด๐ด๐ฐ๐ค๐ช๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ด ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ข๐ณ๐บ ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ต๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ค๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ง๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ๐ด.
Based on information available to AAHP, pharmacist vacancy rates in the public sector have been soaring and are now approaching 20% overall across the province. At a regional and community level, particularly in rural areas, the situation is far more dire with vacancy rates of 40% to 75% in some hospitals.
โThese are not manageable shortages โ this is a system under significant strain,โ said AAHP President Gord Piercey. โPharmacists are doing everything they can to hold patient care together, but they are being stretched far beyond their limits.โ
Piercey notes that AAHP has had some productive discussions with Government and the NL Health Services over the past year and that all parties acknowledge the seriousness of the issues. However, pharmacists are being told solutions, such as wage adjustments, must move through โnormal processesโ โ despite the situation continuing to deteriorate.
โThis is not a ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ situation so ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ processes are not sufficient,โ said Piercey. โWhen vacancy rates reach 50 to 75 percent in some areas, and patient services are already being impacted, the response cannot take months or years.โ
Private sector employers are offering dramatically higher wages, signing bonuses, and incentives โ leaving the public system unable to compete with the current wage rates. Itโs also important to note that wage rates for hospital pharmacists here in NL are lower than those in the other Atlantic provinces.
While incentives to attract pharmacists to the system will help in the longer term, they will not address the current and growing vacancy gaps. AAHP understands that last year the Health Authority was only able to attract one new graduate from our provincial School of Pharmacy and have been informed this year they may be able attract upwards of eight new graduates that will work mainly in the Metro area.
โNew graduates simply cannot afford to choose hospital pharmacy here,โ said Piercey. โAnd experienced pharmacists are leaving faster than we can replace them.โ
Pharmacists are essential members of healthcare team responsible for services such as medication safety, cancer care support, dialysis care, and helping prevent serious drug-related complications among patients. But across NL, those services are increasingly being disrupted, including pharmacy service reductions and cancellations โ all while overtime is being relied on daily just to keep services running.
Currently pharmacists, like all allied health professionals, continue to report worsening burnout, declining morale, and growing concern for patient safety. Major employer driven initiatives such as the new CorCare system, concurrent with many service delivery changes, are exacerbating the situation and workload demands are no longer manageable. Many say conditions are now worse than previous crises that required emergency interventions.
โPharmacists are deeply committed to their patients โ thatโs why theyโve continued to step up,โ said Piercey. โBut there is a limit. And we are reaching it.โ
โPharmacists are not asking for recognition alone โ they are asking for action,โ said Piercey. โWithout it, the consequences for patient care will only worsen.โ
In response to the lack of timely action, AAHP will be working with pharmacists and other allied health professionals to raise awareness of the crisis and to call for immediate solutions, including lunchtime demonstrations.
โOur actions are about protecting patient care,โ said Piercey. โPharmacists do not want to be in this position โ but they need to be heard.โ
AAHP is calling on NL Health Services and the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to take urgent, targeted action to stabilize the workforce, including:
โข Immediate measures to improve compensation and competitiveness
โข Accelerated recruitment and retention strategies
โข Relief from excessive workloads and overtime reliance
โข Direct engagement with frontline pharmacists on solutions
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Media Contact:
Erin Curran
709-325-7193
erin@lupinecommunications.com