Staff shortages flagged in hospital pharmacy
A union in Newfoundland and Labrador warned that hospital pharmacy services could face reductions because of staff shortages, signalling persistent labour pressure in the care chain. The report framed the risk as an operational fragility that could affect service continuity beyond a single department. (vocm.com)
Hospital pharmacy services in Newfoundland and Labrador could face further cuts if staffing keeps falling, the union for hospital pharmacists said on April 11. (vocm.com) Gord Piercey, president of the Association of Allied Health Professionals, told VOCM that hospital pharmacists in the province are the lowest paid in Atlantic Canada and that vacancies are getting harder to fill. He said some service reductions have already happened. (vocm.com) In a news release issued April 1, the union said pharmacist vacancies in the public sector are approaching 20 percent across the province and run from 40 percent to 75 percent in some rural hospitals. The union said those gaps are already affecting patient services. (aahp.ca) Hospital pharmacists do the medication work inside hospitals: filling inpatient prescriptions, checking for drug interactions, supporting cancer care and dialysis, and helping prevent medication errors. The union said shortages are pulling pharmacists away from those roles as remaining staff cover vacant shifts. (vocm.com) (aahp.ca) The pressure is landing in a system that now runs through one provincial authority. Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services says it delivers care to more than 510,550 people and employs over 22,000 people across five zones. (jobbank.gc.ca) (gov.nl.ca) The province has been trying to recruit health workers with bursaries, signing bonuses and “Come Home” incentives. A current clinical pharmacist posting in Stephenville lists a signing bonus of up to $10,000, or up to $14,000 at rural sites, plus a Come Home incentive of up to $50,000. (gov.nl.ca) (jobbank.gc.ca) The union says those incentives have not closed the immediate gap. It said the health authority recruited one new graduate from Memorial University’s School of Pharmacy last year and may recruit up to eight this year, mainly for the St. John’s metro area. (aahp.ca) Piercey said the union has had discussions with the provincial government and Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services for the past year, but wage changes are still moving through regular approval channels. He said “normal processes” are too slow for vacancy rates that have reached as high as 75 percent in some hospitals. (aahp.ca) The warning now is less about one department than about whether hospitals can keep medication services steady as vacancies deepen. Without more staff, Piercey said, the next round of service reductions will be felt by patients across the province. (vocm.com)
