Pharmacy Daily | SHPA input to 5CPA audit

The Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia has proposed a “clear separation of funding medicines and professional pharmacist services,” as part of its submission to the Australian National Audit Office of the Fifth Community Pharmacy Agreement. The ANAO announced the audit earlier this year (PD 28 May), saying it wants to “assess the effectiveness of the development and administration of the 5CPA, and the extent to which the Agreement has met its objectives.” The audit is currently at the information gathering stage, with stakeholders from across the industry encouraged to provide feedback for consideration. SHPA president Sue Kirsa said the society had compiled a detailed contribution, and will also meet with ANAO representatives. The submission says that separating medicine funding from professional services “will improve services offered to consumers, reduce administrative costs, allow pharmacists to focus on providing professional services and help ensure that consumers will continue to have access to the most frequently accessed primary care service - their community pharmacist”. Kirsa said that SHPA supports the need for a viable and sustainable national network of community pharmacists to provide appropriate access for consumers to medicines and professional pharmacy services aligned with Australia’s National Medicines Policy. “We also support the view that individual consumers and the Australian community are best served and protected by pharmacy businesses being owned and conducted by registered pharmacists,” Kirsa said. She said SHPA also supports ongoing assistance to the rural and remote sectors to ensure that appropriate pharmacy services are available to all Australians. “Funding arrangements and eligibility rules need to benefit consumers by allowing pharmacy services to follow the consumer across different care settings, so that the benefit of seamless care may flow to individual consumers as well as the whole health system. “It is important to ensure that ‘unintended’ service gaps for consumers are not created across the continuum as a result of location rules or funding models,” Kirsa added. The ANAO is due to table its report in winter 2014. MEANWHILE union group Professional Pharmacists Australia has encouraged all non-owner pharmacists to contribute to the ANAO 5CPA audit, which PPA president Geoff March said “is the most significant thing happening with regard to the future of community pharmacy”. Confidential contributions to the audit can be submitted online by CLICKING HERE.

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