Pharmacy Daily | Youth speaks up for future

In a letter penned to Pharmacy Daily, Trent Twomey of the Australian College of Pharmacy has made an impassioned plea for unity within the industry, and a scrapping of calls for a Senate Inquiry. The letter, to accompany a page 3 flyer in today’s issue, is below: Over the past week I have fought an ideological battle, one I think needs to be given some context and background. While I have recently become a National Councillor of the Pharmacy Guild and the National President of the Australian College of Pharmacy, I write not as a representative of an organisation but as a young Pharmacist. I am a Pharmacist who bought his first home right before the GFC and is now too afraid to have it revalued. I may not be old enough to remember the days of the banana economy or of 21% interest rates but I spend a greater percentage of my pay packet on servicing my home loan and business loans than any generation of pharmacists before me. I graduated in the middle of the proliferation of new pharmacy schools, experienced an employment market where people actually knew the award wage not the market wage. My point is the barrier to entry, both in terms of skill set and financial equity has never been more out of reach for the new emerging under class, the young pharmacist. The Forgotten People. I believe pharmacy has a great future, but the future belongs to us not the minorities driving the agenda, not those with no skin in the game. The battle of specialisation versus generalisation has been lost, upskilling and credentialing to create a point of difference is already here. The consulting, compounding and retail pharmacists are each specialties in their own right. The issue of the past week has been one of splinter groups and of stability. Splinter groups forging a revolutionary agenda that created undue instability in an already hurting market. Pharmacy bankruptcies and foreclosures are at record highs and banks who once viewed pharmacy as rock solid and virtually risk free are now demanding high debt to equity ratios and regular reviews. The call for a Senate Inquiry last week was reckless and irresponsible and ricocheted through the industry creating unnecessary instability. In a world economy such as ours instability and risk go hand in hand, and as a young pharmacist who has put his money where his mouth is, the last thing I needed was more risk. The stake holders of the Pharmacist Coalition for Health Reform by now must realise this is not the correct forum for change. Clearly there does need to be change in the way we work together - change however needs to be evolutionary not revolutionary in its nature, a shift to remuneration for professional services, and the post-graduate training and credentialing that goes with it. This requires a collaborative approach between the traditional supply chain, the educators, and the professional bodies and stake holders. The key word here is evolutionary not revolutionary, as change must come with a feasible business model and not at the expense of a world leading community pharmacy network. The Australian Pharmacy Liaison Forum is a wider and more inclusive body, one with a more legitimate cross section to discuss the many and varied issues facing us all. We must all band together now to show those outside that we as a profession stand united in our support of the industry, to tell the government we have hurt enough, we have given enough. It is up to us now to show stability in leadership, to ensure continued investment. Young Pharmacists you are not forgotten and you have a voice. Thank you for your support and activism in the past seven days. Whilst ownership might not be the goal for the great many of us the common underlying thread is that our Community Pharmacy infrastructure is the envy of the world, it has the community at its core and we must not forget how privileged we are to serve the Australian public through this unrivalled and universally affordable and accessible network.

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The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 01 Dec 11
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