500 signatures reached
To: Hon Dr Steven Miles - Deputy Premier and Minister for Health Queensland Government
No COVID-19 testing in community pharmacy
This campaign has ended.
The Queensland Government’s decision to introduce COVID-19 testing into community pharmacies is unnecessary and risky.
The proposal to use pharmacies as testing centres, including in regions where there is widespread active community transmission, will endanger the occupational health, safety and welfare of pharmacy employees and the health of the community.
If this proposal goes ahead, other states could follow.
We urge the Queensland Government to abandon its plan.
Why is this important?
Pharmacy patients are some of the most vulnerable people in our community – people with complex medication needs, people with multiple health issues, and the elderly who rely on medication for chronic illness and conditions.
Pharmacies are primarily retail and health spaces that are not designed to be communicable disease testing centres.
People who have respiratory symptoms including those with cold and flu symptoms should be tested at a predesignated testing sites and then stay home, not go to a community pharmacy.
We’ve seen that even with highly trained medical staff adhering to strict infectious disease protocols, COVID-19 has successfully infected large numbers of health workers.
The plan by the Queensland government to make every pharmacy in the state a Covid-19 testing centre is reckless and puts the health and safety of pharmacy employees and the community they serve at risk.