THE Pharmacy Guild of Australia says it sees no benefit to either government or patients with the provision of Community Service Obligation (CSO) products through exclusive supply arrangements.
The Guild has lodged a formal submission to the Health Department, in response to a request for input into the government's consultation on the CSO funding pool obligations, saying that in particular from a pharmacy perspective there are "significant disadvantages and risks" to patients under such arrangements.
"Full line CSO wholesalers currently provide great efficiency in facilitating the distribution of PBS medicines, including to rural and remote areas...this also includes low volume, low profit items, and delivery of these items to any pharmacy location in Australia."
The Guild said exclusive supply diminishes this efficiency and puts at risk the capacity of CSO wholesalers to maintain the CSO standards for distributing PBS medicines and upholding the National Medicines Policy.
A condition of PBS listing, the Guild said, should be that companies must be willing to meet a number of principles including enabling pharmacies to access any quantity of a listed product within 24 hours, and a guarantee that pharmacies can purchase items at no more than the price on which pharmacy remuneration is based.
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