The Pharmacy Council of New Zealand and the Pharmaceutical Society of New Zealand put out a statement that the November Assessment Centre may be postponed due to “concerns about the potential impact of the COVID-19 situation”.
Considering the inadequate level of pharmacist workforce currently available for community pharmacies across the country, a decision to postpone the entry of about 200 new pharmacists into the market would be unacceptable.
If the COVID-19 situation is risky now, it is unclear how it will be less risky a few months into the future. The only way to make the Assessment Centre less risky is to organise the event differently, for example remotely or in smaller clusters. However, this would require an enormous amount of work and, above all, time.
Community pharmacies across the country are desperate for new pharmacists. Pharmacists working across the country are overworked and exhausted. We cannot wait.
The Independent Pharmacists’ Association of New Zealand calls on the Pharmacy Council of New Zealand and the Pharmaceutical Society of New Zealand to go ahead with the Assessment Centre in November, as originally planned. Any risks around COVID-19 should, of course, be mitigated as far as possible, but postponing the Assessment Centre would carry the very real risk of exacerbating the already dire situation many pharmacies and pharmacists are in.