SOUTHCITY Pharmacy owner Luke van der Rijt said he will be reducing trading hours for his store from early next month in response to the 60-DD policy.
"It saddens me that Southcity Pharmacy, after trading as an extended hours pharmacy for nearly 20 years, will reduce its trading hours as of Mon 03 Jul.
"As someone who is passionate about the pharmacy industry, I understand first-hand the impact that this decision is likely to have on our industry and the community," said van der Rijt, winner of both Pharmacy Of The Year and the Excellence in Community Engagement Awards in 2018, on LinkedIn.
"Whilst this decision has included many factors of consideration - including struggles to recruit pharmacists to regional areas, the newly announced 60-day dispensing policy by the Labor Government has had a major impact in our decision making," he explained.
Van der Rijt and his business partners opened another pharmacy just last year based on what they thought were the two remaining years of the 7th Community Pharmacy Agreement (7CPA).
"The 7CPA's remuneration was based on 30-day dispensing, so introducing 60-day dispensing part way through the 7CPA agreement has effectively broken the remuneration agreement.
"We will continue to encourage the government to sit down with the Guild to engage in discussions to negotiate the 8th Community Pharmacy Agreement," he said.
"This will help to secure the future of the industry, and ensure that the essential pharmacy network can continue to serve their local communities," he added.
"We urge the government to take action now before it is too late.
"We support lower medications to patients, but feel these savings need to be covered by government, not by pharmacies," he concluded.
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