THE Pharmacy Guild of Australia has launched legal action against Ramsay Health Care Limited, with the case centring on the compliance of Ramsay Pharmacy franchises with pharmacy ownership rules.
Listings for the NSW Supreme Court indicate the case set down for a hearing at 9.30am on 02 Oct 2018, in the court's civil equity division presided over by Registrar L. Walton.
A Guild spokesperson confirmed the action this morning, saying three of its pharmacist members were also part of the case, seeking a ruling on whether Ramsay Health Care has a financial interest in certain Ramsay-branded pharmacies in NSW.
The case wishes to "test the application of the pharmacy ownership section of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (NSW) in relation to certain recent pharmacy ownership transactions.
"The purpose is to test whether these transactions comply with the law in NSW, in particular, provisions in relation to who may have a financial interest in a pharmacy," the Guild said.
"Governments around Australia have made it clear that they support a policy of pharmacists owning and controlling community pharmacies...pharmacist-only pharmacy ownership is fundamental to the community pharmacy model."
The Guild said it was committed "in the public interest" to taking appropriate action to ensure that pharmacy ownership rules in all States and Territories are maintained and enforced.
"Anything that undermines it is not in the public interest."
Ramsay Health Care wasn't able to comment on the matter before Pharmacy Daily's deadline today, while the Guild said it would not make further comment while the matter is before the court.
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