The Flying Dispensary

Sydney Morning Herald

Saturday September 6, 2008

Owen Thomson

He takes to the air to aid Aboriginal communities and the job satisfaction is as vast as his beat, writes Owen Thomson.

THERE aren't many pharmacists who climb into a cockpit to begin a day's work. But for Peter Hatswell, flying and dispensing pharmaceuticals go hand in hand as he does his rounds of remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory.

Hatswell, 49, earned his licence four years ago to enable him to reach his clients quickly and safely. "I chose to fly as it was the safest and most practical way of getting to places," he says. "Before that I never had a desire or a need to fly a plane."

Hatswell's beat covers 31 population centres over a vast area. "[They] stretch all the way from the Queensland border at Lake Nash to the Western Australian border at Kintore and Docker River; as far down as Finke, which is very close to the South Australian border, and up as far as Barrow Creek," he says. "It's something like 500,000 square kilometres." He works from Alice Springs, where he has owned a community pharmacy for 20 years. His aerial role is a consultative one, advising nurses and Aboriginal health workers about such things as pharmaceutical delivery, dispensing and storage. He visits the communities about twice a year. "It's all part of guiding these communities in the proper use of medicines," he says. "I enjoy it. The people are great. After a while you develop a rapport with those who have been there longer and the people who are new are very keen to understand and learn about how things have to be done," he says.

"It's always a pleasure to work with the nursing staff and the Aboriginal health workers. It's a joy to be able to help in these places, where it's often very difficult to get people out to."

But fulfilling a vital need isn't the only benefit of such a mobile role.

"There isn't a flight I do that I don't think it's an amazing sight to behold," he says. "The scenery is stunning. It's postcard terrain. It's never boring. To be able to fly in a plane is very special."

Michelle Quester, program manager of rural programs at the Pharmacy Guild, says: "There are definitely opportunities for people who are looking to do something different.

"Our market research indicates some pharmacists get stuck in metropolitan areas because of partners and family, and things like that. They don't realise the opportunities available if they expand and go out to some regional and remote places."

Importantly, Quester says prospects exist for pharmacists at virtually all levels of experience.

"You have to do a pre-registration year when you complete a four-year pharmacy degree and some of our pre-registration students that we've involved in some programs have done some work in indigenous communities," she says. "Experienced pharmacists have been out there as well, so I think there are opportunities for all levels."

And while the distances involved may be enormous, job satisfaction, it seems, is equally extensive.

"Most of the pharmacists we deal with truly believe it's a part of their role to provide health care to all Australians and they really do get a lot of professional satisfaction out of providing it to these communities," she says.

© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald

Back to News Index | Back to Home