Let Pharmacies Do More

Someone with an ear infection should not have to wait a week to see a GP when a pharmacist can safely treat it.

One in four adults says the time taken to get an appointment was a barrier to seeing a GP. At the same time, New Zealand has more than a thousand community pharmacies staffed by qualified health professionals whose skills are not being fully used.

Pharmacists can already treat several common conditions. ACT would widen that list and set clear rules for when a patient needs to see a doctor.

ACT will:

• Let pharmacies treat more everyday conditions, including chest infections, ear infections, skin infections, and acute pain.

• Allow pharmacists to manage long-term medicines for appropriate, stable patients and order routine blood tests where needed. GPs would retain overall clinical responsibility and visibility, with results recorded in the shared health record.

• Pilot skin-lesion triage and monitoring through accredited community pharmacies. A trained pharmacist would use a dermatoscope and an approved AI risk-assessment tool to identify lesions that need referral or monitoring.

In our team's words:

ACT Leader David Seymour says:

“New Zealand is not short of medical expertise. The problem is access. GPs have long waiting lists, emergency departments are under pressure, and too many patients are stuck waiting for routine care.

“Pharmacists are trained health professionals, yet we still make them refer people back to a GP for conditions they could safely treat. If your pharmacist can sort it out, you should not have to join the GP queue.

“More than 120,000 people used the Minor Health Conditions Service pilot in 2023, and 88 per cent had their needs met at a pharmacy. We already know this model can work here.”