A new independent report has found up to 6,766 jobs and 173 pharmacies will be lost in Victoria, and the state’s most vulnerable patients will suffer due to the Federal Government’s rushed 60-day dispensing medicine policy.
The policy, which is scheduled to start on September 1, will require pharmacists to provide twice as much medicine (60-days supply) to the patient when prescribed, while only providing half of the funding.
The report was conducted by renowned economist Henry Ergas AO with Tulipwood Advisory and the Relational Insights Data Lab at Griffith University, and recommended the policy be delayed to allow proper consultation and review of the potential unintended impacts
This comes as Victorian pharmacies launch the Save Your Local Pharmacy campaign from today, with in-store banners, radio, digital and TV advertising to explain the facts and devastating consequences of the Federal Government’s policy if implemented as announced.
Pharmacy Guild President Victorian Branch Anthony Tassone said the Federal Government policy would impact millions of Victorian patients.
“This independent report confirms the policy will adversely affect millions of Victoria patients in its current form, more than 6,000 job losses, more than 150 pharmacies shutting, weekend opening hours drastically scaled back and millions of free services cut,” Mr Tassone said.
“This should be a wake-up call to the Federal Government, and it highlights that no consultation was undertaken and the policy was rushed by the Department of Health with no modelling or understanding of the impact on community pharmacies and Victoria patients.
“Unfortunately, as the new report shows, this policy will force Victoria pharmacies to cut opening hours, including on weekends and end free services for patients such as blood pressure monitoring, home delivery of medicines and diabetes and asthma programs.
The new independent report found:
- 173 community pharmacies in Victoria will be forced to close.
- 6,766 workers in Victoria community pharmacies will lose their jobs over the next four years.
- Community pharmacies will be forced to cut opening hours by 2.5 hours each day, on average.
- Free services like blood pressure monitoring, weight checking, home delivery of medicines and asthma monitoring will be cut.
Kavita Nadan who runs Chemist Discount Centre Endeavour Hills in Endeavour Hills said the report’s findings reflected the situation on the ground in her community.
“This policy will negatively impact my patients in Endeavour Hills. As a result of these changes, I am going to need to review the hours of operation and the services, like blood pressure checks, Dose Administration Aid services and deliveries that my pharmacy provides,” she said.
“And it’s the most vulnerable patients that will be affected. I don’t want to be in a position of closing earlier and not being there for my patients when they need vital medicine and support and I’m calling on the Federal Government to rethink this policy and put patients first.”
The Victoria Save Your Local Pharmacy campaign will be rolled out this week in every community across the state to explain the facts and devastating consequences of 60-day dispensing. The campaign will feature advertising in community pharmacies, and across radio, digital and TV.
To have your say and learn more about the impact of 60-day dispensing, visit saveyourlocalpharmacy.com.au.
Link to the independent report from Henry Ergas AO, Tulipwood Economics and Griffith University’s Relational Insights Data Lab – LINK
