Page 53 - RPA Magazine December 2020

2020 YEAR IN REVIEW 51 This year has been unprecedented and challenging for everyone, due to the unforeseen Covid-19 pandemic. Community pharmacy, as an essential service, has uniquely been at the forefront of experiencing and helping to tackle the immediate impact of Covid-19. Its importance to patients as well as the resilience of the community pharmacy network has been highlighted in 2020. Despite the challenges posed by Covid-19, the experience this year highlights the opportunities to further utilise community pharmacies beyond 2020 for the benefit of patients and the wider health system. A shock on many levels The loss of life, ongoing health conditions and curtailing of Australians’ expected way of life due to Covid-19 cannot be understated. The economic shock has also been pronounced, with the federal government describing this period as the most severe global economic challenge since the Great Depression. Australia experienced its first recession in 30 years, with unemployment topping the one million mark and Australia’s economy contracting by seven per cent in the three months to June 2020, with a 3.75 per cent fall expected for this calendar year. Households quickly retreated from spending on many goods and services, primarily due to uncertainty around employment and income growth. Some estimates suggest Australians saved 20 per cent of their income in the June quarter alone. Consumer price inflation fell by 1.9 per cent in the June quarter of 2020, relative to the previous year. What remained of consumer spending during the onset of the pandemic quickly switched to online, given the restrictions posed by Covid-19. For example, online retail sales growth averaged 80 per cent in the three months to August. Community pharmacies haven’t been immune to the economic pain, but have also shown resilience. Comparative data from various sources, such as GuildData, demonstrates the unprecedented nature of 2020 for community pharmacy. OTC medicines and other critical products OTC medicine sales also spiked in March as patient concerns about supply of essentials were paramount. As expected, Covid-19 related goods such as personal protective equipment, masks and sanitiser were especially in great demand. A trusted healthcare and advice destination Community pharmacy continues to be very much the most accessible health destination for patients across all parts of Australia. The accessibility of community pharmacies as a healthcare destination during both the initial widespread and subsequent more contained waves of Covid-19 is evident in data on the number of patients visiting pharmacies, driven in part by the closure of or restricted access to GP services. Without community pharmacies being open and accessible, many of these patients would have visited emergency departments, putting additional strain on hospitals that were already stretched with pandemic-related care, restrictions and preparations. Community pharmacy’s essential and irreplaceable role in managing common ailments has never been so visible. GuildData shows, during both waves, equally large spikes of up to 30 per cent in certain weeks for the unique number of patients visiting pharmacies, relative to the same time last year. Chart 1 shows this increase in the number of visits to community pharmacies. Moreover, the ‘NAB Australian Consumer Health Survey 2020’ indicates TO PAGE 52 RETAIL PHARMACY ASSISTANTS • DEC 2020