Guild’s grassroots push
January 23, 2014
The Pharmacy Guild of Australia
(PGA) has said it will launch a
grassroots campaign to remind
politicians of the impact of
price disclosure on community
pharmacies’ bottom line.
PGA executive director David
Quilty said until the Federal Budget
on 13 May, the Guild would be
reminding politicians that this
impact over the next year needed
to be addressed or jobs and
services could be at risk.
“This will be a genuine grassroots
campaign, with Guild members
and pharmacy staff actively
encouraged to talk to their local
parliamentarians.”
This would include building a
greater understanding among
politicians of pharmacies’ role as
trusted health care destinations,
which was being recognised
globally, Quilty said.
“Rather than being a cost,
medication management and
adherence services are recognised
as being critical in delivering
maximum health benefits and
economic returns from the multibillion
dollar taxpayer investments
in subsidised medicines.”
“It is time for Minister Dutton
to seize this opportunity by
reinvesting a fraction of the returns
from price disclosure to transform
community pharmacy into a trusted
provider of primary health care
services, working in collaboration
with and adding-value to GPs and
other health providers.”
Quilty said it was also time for
pharmacists to demonstrate they
were ready to transform.
Consumer Health Forum (CHF)
spokesman Mark Metherell said the
forum welcomed the government’s
support for accelerated price
disclosure.
The CHF wanted to see
pharmacies playing a vigorous role
in community primary health care.
“But any additional taxpayer
support should be subject to close
transparency that has hitherto
been absent from the pharmacy
agreements.”
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