Wongarbon woman Bronwyn Longhurst initiated a call for the late-night pharmacy roster after a failed attempt to find a pharmacy open after 8pm on Thursday night.

“I left Dubbo at 9pm after driving to all the known chemists’ sites, thinking ‘I live in a backwater, what has happened to us here?’,” she said.

Mrs Longhurst considered going to Dubbo Base Hospital emergency department but rejected the idea as her situation was “not really an emergency” but a “discomfort” that she envisaged would get worse after being triaged to the less urgent time frame.

Describing Dubbo as a “progressive” city, Mrs Longhurst said it’s not inviting for people considering living in Dubbo if there’s no chemist open late at night.

“Come on guys, can’t we be reasonable and reintroduce a chemist to be available to those who do need help later in the evening,” Mrs Longhurst said.

“Surely the shared roster system was not so bad to provide a badly needed service,” she said.

The idea has been met with a lukewarm response by two Dubbo pharmacies who say people are covered “well” by trading hours that currently exist.

Orana Mall Pharmacy stays open until 7pm six nights a week and until 8pm on Thursday night.

“The medical centre shuts at 10pm so there’s a gap of three hours there, but to leave the pharmacy open for three hours ... I don’t know whether it would be worth it for people needing emergency scripts,” Orana Mall Pharmacy pharmacist Tony Winmill said.

The late-night chemist roster existed on a rotational basis between Dubbo pharmacies but was disbanded about five years ago when some pharmacies changed ownership, Lawler’s MaxValue Pharmacist Sally Sheehan said.

The roster ran for about 10 years and pharmacies took it in turn to trade until 6.30pm on Saturday and Sunday nights.

Mrs Sheehan said pharmacy trading hours have extended since the roster was in place and most pharmacies now open on weekends.

“The late-night pharmacy roster fell apart when we started trading on a Sunday,” she said.

“People are well covered now because pharmacies are open on a weekend and for much longer hours on weekdays.”

Lawler’s MaxValue Pharmacy in Centro trades from 9am to 6pm Monday to Friday and 8pm on Thursday, on weekends it’s open from 10am to 4pm.

Lawler’s Delroy pharmacy is open from 8am to 6.30pm on weekdays and from 9am to12.30pm on Saturday.

“If it’s really urgent the Dubbo Base Hospital has some emergency antibiotics it can supply,” she said.

A spokesperson from the Western Local Health Network said anyone can present at the emergency department.

Each person would be assessed by a triage nurse as to the speed with which they need medical treatment, he said.

“For example triage category five is for people who need to have treatment within two hours and are categorised as having a less urgent condition,” he said.

“This may be for minor illnesses such as a rash or minor aches.”