CONCERNS over the sustainability of the pharmaceutical supply chain under Victoria's Stage Four restrictions have been eased, with the supply of scheduled medicines to be exempt from regulations requiring wholesalers to cut their workforce by 33%.
Speaking with Pharmacy Daily this morning, Pharmacy Guild of Australia Victorian Branch President, Anthony Tassone, welcomed the State Government's decision to issue the exemption, following lengthy discussions with key stakeholders yesterday.
Tassone said the initial restrictions would have severely impacted Community Service Obligation (CSO) wholesalers, with their capacity reduced by a third, which he said would have meant pharmacies would receive proportionately less stock, and medication adherence would be slashed.
"The CSO-accredited wholesalers are rightfully very worried about what this measure, if [it was] introduced without amendment, would mean for their ability to meet Commonwealth CSO standards, the expectations of their community and hospital pharmacy clients -- and the patients they serve," he said.
"We saw what occurred with the panic buying in Mar, we know the huge impacts it had on the supply chain -- yet here we are contemplating something that we know can only end in poor health outcomes.
"It's not just community pharmacies that would be impacted but hospitals -- the very institutions treating patients suffering from the deadly virus we are trying to fight against."
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