Advanced Pharmacy Australia (AdPha) today welcomes the final report on Special Commission of Inquiry into Healthcare Funding urging the swift delivery of its recommendations to enable the NSW healthcare system and its healthcare workforce to provide safer, high-quality and more equitable patient-centred care.
AdPha is particularly pleased to see broad endorsement of its member-driven proposals, which were presented at last year’s hearing by Dr Jonathan Penm FANZCAP (PainMgmt, Research), former AdPha NSW Branch Chair, and Jerry Yik FANZCAP (Lead&Mgmt, PublicHlth), AdPha Head of Policy and Advocacy.
Dr Penm, who highlighted critical underfunding of the hospital pharmacy workforce, welcomed the report’s recognition of the need to coordinate clinical placements and progress long-overdue award reform.
“There is enormous interest in hospital pharmacy, but the positions simply don’t exist—or where they do, they’re undervalued and overlooked.
“Pharmacists are integral to delivering safe and effective care, yet when new services are introduced, pharmacy is too often left out of the equation.
“Hospital pharmacists operate in a complex environment, ensuring safe medication use across the entire patient journey—whether at the bedside, in the dispensary, or in clinical governance roles. It’s encouraging to see momentum building toward reform that better reflects our evolving responsibilities.”
AdPha President Tom Simpson FANZCAP (Lead&Mgmt) emphasised the importance of reform in unlocking innovation and delivering measurable improvements in efficiency andpatient outcomes.
“This report rightly highlights collaborative care models like Partnered Pharmacist Medication Charting (PPMC), championed by AdPha members across Australia.
‘PPMC streamlines clinical workflows by integrating pharmacists into medication charting, reducing delays, easing pressure on medical teams, and improving patient journeys.
“The data speaks for itself—PPMC is up to ten times safer for patients and reduces hospital length of stay by 10%. That’s real impact, both clinically and economically.
“We are seeing momentum in state-by-state adoption of this model driven by our members’ advocacy and leadership, and we are proud to see the Special Commission back this innovative collaborative model of care in NSW.”
Mr Simpson further acknowledged the contributions of AdPha leaders to shaping policy and elevating the voice of hospital pharmacy at major health inquiries.
“Dr Jonathan Penm and Jerry Yik have been tireless advocates for their profession over the years. Their leadership is reflected in these recommendations, and we now urge the NSW government to act.
“The NSW Health pharmacy workforce requires backing and investment from its own government to ensure these innovations can continue to expand to all NSW Health sites. It’s past time the hospital pharmacy workforce was properly recognised and rewarded for the essential, complex work they do for NSW patients..
“The Special Commission report was right to highlight the Garling Report’s findings and recommendations into hospital pharmacy, where our NSW members know all too well that initial progress was slowly eroded over time without protected funding.
‘Seventeen years on, we must not make the same mistakes again. This report provides a roadmap. We now call for swift and full implementation.” Mr Simpson said
