Mon 5 January 2026
Hospital pharmacy interns critical to Queensland’s health future
Advanced Pharmacy Australia (AdPha) today welcomes the Crisafulli Government’s announcement of a record intake of graduate doctors into Queensland Health, describing it as a positive step towards strengthening frontline care. However, AdPha warns that without comparable investment in hospital pharmacy interns, Queensland risks undermining medicines safety and the long-term sustainability of its health system.
Queensland’s hospital pharmacy workforce is already under significant pressure. AdPha’s State of Pharmacy: Workforce Insights 2025 report shows that 12.8 per cent of hospitals report pharmacy intern vacancies, alongside widespread pharmacist and technician shortages. In the past 12 months alone, 75 per cent of hospitals reduced pharmacy services due to workforce constraints, despite 99.3 per cent of hospitals having additional beds funded for the next 24 months.
AdPha President Assoc. Prof. Tom Simpson FANZCAP (Lead&Mgmt) said the disconnect between health system growth and pharmacy workforce investment was placing patients at risk.
‘Medicines are the most common intervention in healthcare, yet pharmacy resourcing is not keeping pace with growing demand.
‘You can build more beds and recruit more doctors, but without enough hospital pharmacists coming through the pipeline, patients will face delays, increased risk of medication errors, and fragmented care.’
Mr Simpson adds that the that the number of pharmacy interns has declined over the past decade and is now sitting at just approximately 35 interns – a figure acknowledged in Queensland Health’s own Pharmacy Workforce Plan 2022–2032 showing increasing intern positions as a critical activity and indicator of success.
‘Hospital pharmacy interns are not optional extras - they are essential to safe, high-quality care.
‘They support multidisciplinary teams, improve patient outcomes, and ensure medicines expertise is embedded across the entire health system.
’Their contribution is particularly critical in regional and rural hospitals, where workforce shortages are often most acute.’
To address the growing gap between demand and workforce capacity, AdPha has called for a $219 million investment over four years, including funding for 200 hospital pharmacy intern positions annually from 2026 to 2029, progression into two-year Resident Training Programs from 2027, and the recruitment of clinical educators to ensure high-quality supervision and long-term workforce sustainability. Mr Simpson says this is critical to supporting the future health of Queenslanders.
‘If Queensland is serious about strengthening its health system, investment in pharmacy interns must match its ambition for medical workforce growth.
‘Every patient deserves timely, safe access to medicines - and that starts with building and sustaining the hospital pharmacy workforce of the future.’