Under new scope of practice provisions these professionals can now treat a range of disorders including psychosis, OCD and Capgras syndrome.
Following the mass exodus of over 200 psychiatrists from the public sector the mentally ill in NSW are being told to consult their local pharmacist, it has emerged.
“Our advice to patients is to pop down to your local community pharmacist, have a chat with them and see what they can do,” the NSW health minister told The Medical Republic.
“After all, pharmacies are hubs of holistic care and pharmacists are trusted health professionals and highly trained clinicians who are always looking to practise at the top of their scope.”
“We’ve been a lot busier ever since the psychiatrists left,” pharmacy owner Tony Trembler told TMR.
“A patient came in the other day and said that blue ants were crawling inside his veins and that when he dug up the floorboards in his living room he found a giant seam of rotting human flesh.
“I tried to sell him some jellybeans and a bottle of Lynx ‘Dark Temptation’ but he left pretty disappointed, saying that he didn’t think it would help.
“Later the same day a patient came in and told me that a gang of villains skilled in pneumatic chemistry were operating an ‘airloom’ to control his mind. He even handed me a diagram of the loom and told me to contact Jack the School Master if I didn’t believe him.
“I didn’t really know what to do about the airloom so I sold him some Sudafed (the phenylephrine version, obviously) and a Chupa-Chup.
“I know we’re supposed to be holistic health hubs but even I think this is outside my field of competence,” Trembler admitted.
