RPHA slams discounters

RURAL pharmacists believe discounters and high-volume-low-care pharmacies threaten the viability of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).

The Rural Pharmacy Network Australia (RPNA) and Small Pharmacies Group (SPG) claimed discounters were making

“a mockery of the current remuneration arrangements by claiming the PBS dispensing fee, but failing to provide the care that claiming the fee requires them to provide,” in response to allegations that the Federal Government has been propping up community pharmacies.

In a joint statement from the RPNA and SPG, Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) Pharmacist of the Year, Peter Crothers, flagged concerns over flaws in the PBS system, as patients go to one pharmacy for cheap medication, before going to another store for quality advice.

“It is pretty obvious who is propping up whom,” he said.

“We have some pharmacies routinely overlooking their professional responsibilities in a very calculated way while nevertheless collecting Commonwealth payments, with another group of pharmacies acting in the spirit of the PBS by providing a quality service and being paid less than they deserve.

“This isn’t the only damage being done by the discount model.

“We are also seeing increasing dispensing errors. In August alone, my small, rural pharmacy picked up four separate cases of prescriptions that had been dispensed for the wrong patient – all from pharmacies promoting themselves as discounters.

“With the dispensing technology we have today, these sorts of errors should be next to impossible and it can only indicate that people are cutting corners big time.”

RPNA Chair, Fredrik Hellqvist, added that low-service pharmacies were commoditising the provision of Community Pharmacy Agreement (CPA) services, including MedsCheck and Home Medicines Reviews, while the funding was failing to cover the cost of delivering care in pharmacies in rural and disadvantaged communities.

“We need a system that ensures that funding is being allocated to the patients who need it the most, and pharmacies providing this care are fairly remunerated for the important work they are doing”.