With Victorian premier Jacinta Allen and health minister Mary-Anne Thomas “very, very keen to support us in exactly the same way as Queensland and the other states,” the former Pharmacy Guild national president has explained the state branch’s current priorities, as well as offering advice for thriving as pharmacy evolves.

Tambassis, now the Guild’s Victorian state president, defined full scope, and how things are changing, particularly in Victoria.

He told AJP podcast host Carlene McMaugh that at a recent regional Guild meeting, he presented on full scope, and was pleased at the response.

“People my age were actually getting excited,” he said. “The young people were getting excited, it didn’t matter.

“I was a little bit reluctant and nervous that sometimes 60 year olds or older guys and ladies that are still practising at our age, my age group might be a little bit nervous or too lazy or …don’t want to do the extra training.”

But that was far from the case.

“[O]ldies like me have put their hand up and said, you know what? This is something that I’d like to get involved because it just keeps me fresh.”

Not only is Guild membership keen to get going on scope of practice, but the universities are excited to start upskilling pharmacists as well, he said.

“Any pharmacist that’s listening to this podcast should really be advocating as best he or she can within any decision maker,” he advised, after noting that he had first met former health minister Greg Hunt when the then backbencher had visited his pharmacy’s reopening.

“He just got a really, really good taste of pharmacy that he wouldn’t have had otherwise…

“They come across at any time… You never know when you’re working in a pharmacy or a hospital, wherever your place of practice is.

“You can really never know who that patient or that customer may be. So when you get the opportunity to explain to them, explain to the consumer or the member of the public that pharmacists are very, very, very highly trained healthcare professionals and we’ve got quite a bit of capacity to do more.

“You never know who you’re talking to.”

02:42 – How Tambassis started out

03:36 – “This strange organisation called the Pharmacy Guild reached out to me”

06:42 – “You never, never know when the next person’s going to walk in your pharmacy. They might end up being the prime minister in 10 years or the health minister.”

08:04 – The importance of full scope – and the process of having it approved in Victoria

10:51 – Scope as a member priority

13:09 – How can pharmacists prepare their pharmacies for increased scope in Victoria?

15:47 – What does the federal election mean for the Guild, and for pharmacists?

17:30 – The upcoming beginning of the reduced general PBS copayment

19:15 – “The future should be good”

20:22 – Pharmacy’s current challenges

22:24 – End of financial year advice

24:20 – The uptake of existing opportunities, such as the UTI service and oral contraceptives

You can access the full transcript of this podcast here. While we endeavour to ensure all important words and phrases are correct, please note there may be some minor inaccuracies in the transcription.

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