GPs across WA have been ditching bulk billing in droves, with recent research showing many patients are now putting off visiting their GP due to the out-of-pocket costs.
According to a CommBank insights report, 71 per cent of Australians have delayed or cancelled healthcare appointments over the past year, with affordability cited as a key reason.
One in three patients also reported experiencing “bill shock” from unexpected charges and out-of-pocket expenses.
However, WA pharmacists say there are ways Australians with minor illness and concerns can save money and access affordable, and even free, health services.
Pharmacies such as Priceline, Amcal, Blooms The Chemist and TerryWhite have been expanding their roles to provide services such as diabetes risk assessments, cholesterol checks, anaemia screenings and heart health checks.
Perth pharmacist Andria Aird told PerthNow a range of free health checks were available at community pharmacies including blood pressure evaluations, diabetes monitoring and stroke risk assessments.
She said pharmacists could determine whether customers are at risk of developing health conditions such as heart disease and diabetes.
Some, including pharmacists at Blooms The Chemist in Port Coogee where Ms Aird works, can even diagnose and treat uncomplicated Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs), she added.
“While a pharmacist isn’t a replacement for a GP, there are many occasions when a trip to the pharmacy might be all you need for medical assistance,” Ms Aird said.
“Pharmacists can help manage chronic health conditions, such as diabetes and asthma, by helping people to understand their condition, monitor symptoms and improve health and at-home management.”
She said if a customer’s health were found to be at risk, the pharmacist would pass the results on to their GP for further discussion.
Australian Medical Association WA General Practice Group chair and GP Dr Simon Torvaldsen said some health checks, such as blood pressure and BMI checks, were appropriate in pharmacy settings but others might not be.
He urged people to be wary of pharmacy health checks that claimed to be “comprehensive”, or which would require medical expertise to administer or interpret.
“A pharmacist is primarily trained in the use of medications including all the various rules around prescribing and dispensing,” Dr Torvaldsen said.
“They have some general health training but it is at a totally different level and also from a different perspective and it is not their daily core function.”
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He said a GP, by contrast, had a minimum 10 years of formal training, including several years of specialist training in the evaluation, diagnosis and management of health problems in addition to experience in dealing with a wide variety of patients every day.
“A full ‘health check’ really needs to be done by a GP, preferably someone who knows the patient, their history, background and circumstances,” Dr Torvaldsen said.
“Health checks are not a simple checklist or computer algorithm. There are many shades of grey involved and psychosocial factors are also important.
“Pharmacists can help with detecting and preventing some conditions, but by themselves pharmacy health checks of any sort cannot be all that is required for most people to be confident that they are completely ‘on top of their own health’.
“I think pharmacists can sometimes assist with this but, misused, pharmacy health checks actually have the potential to increase costs to patients rather than reduce them, due to further investigations and management that turn out to be unnecessary.”
Dr Torvaldsen said people were better off thinking of pharmacy health checks as a form of “health screening” and as a complementary service to what is provided by a GP.
“Pharmacists can certainly help patients understand some aspects of their conditions and especially in terms of medication usage, but they are not a substitute for a doctor,” he added.
“As long as we recognise and utilise the skills of the different professions appropriately, we can all work together to provide better care and good health outcomes.”
Free tests community pharmacies can offer include:
- Blood pressure evaluation.
- Diabetes monitoring.
- Stroke risk assessment.
Other tests, which are not free, include:
- Cholesterol screening.
- Iron screening.
- Sleep apnoea testing.
Did you know?
National data shows a 5 per cent increase in pharmacy vaccinations and a 15 per cent decrease in vaccinations through local GPs this year.
This is despite 2023 being one of the worst flu seasons on record in Australia since 2019, with a 10 per cent increase in flu cases.
The flu vaccine is free at participating WA pharmacies for some people, including those who are aged 65 and older, pregnant women, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people aged six months or over, those aged six months and older with medical conditions, and children between six months and five years.