Pharmacy Daily | Guild welcomes 5CPA audit

The Pharmacy Guild says it welcomes scrutiny of the Fifth Community Pharmacy Agreement, after a probe into the 5CPA was confirmed late yesterday by the government’s Australian National Audit Office (PD breaking news). Guild spokesman Greg Turnbull says that it appears that the Agreement was part of the ANAO ‘audit work program’ for 2012/13 but didn’t proceed, and will now take place from Jul this year, reporting in “Winter 2014”. “It is part of the normal work of the Audit Office, and there is no reason why anyone would have imagined that a $15 billion Agreement would not be subject to the scrutiny of the Auditor- General,” Turnbull told PD. He said the Guild hoped that any findings will “contribute to an even better Agreement, with even better outcomes for health consumers”. Union group Professional Pharmacists Australia also welcomed the probe, taking the opportunity to reiterate previous comments about a “lack of transparency” in the 5CPA. “We have long argued for a better pharmacy agreement that creates profitable pharmacies but also delivers better outcomes to patients and pharmacists,” said PPA president, Geoff March. Interestingly, just last week NT pharmacist Rollo Manning urged the ANAO to request a Productivity Commission enquiry into the 5CPA (PD 22 May) urging an investigation into the value of dispensing fees.

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