SMALL rural pharmacy owners are calling on the Federal Government and suppliers to stop debating what constitutes a medicines shortage and focus on patients in need.
The Small Pharmacies Group reported a significant number of pharmacies across the country have experienced difficulties access Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) listed products, with numerous "out of stocks and items on back order".
A spokesperson for the group said there was little public acknowledgement of "the chaos that is happening on the ground", as a result of COVID-19-induced shortages.
"Community pharmacists are after all the people who actually deliver the PBS to consumers," the spokesperson said.
"We have a pretty good idea of what constitutes a 'shortage'.
"The fact is that small and rural pharmacies are still feeling the ripple effects of bulk buying by large pharmacy players back in early Mar and no longer have any confidence that anyone really has a handle on the stock situation let alone that it is being managed in an equitable manner.
"What the decision makers are completely missing is that the problem is not about whether there is theoretical or imminent stock in the system or whether out-of-stocks are temporary.
"The problem is that equity of access to essential PBS medicines has gone out the window.
"The fact that the PBS has had a massive fail on maintaining its single policy objective - to ensure that all Australians have equitable access to essential medicines, regardless of ability to pay or geography - is being completely overlooked while bureaucrats and suppliers try to parse the meaning of medicine shortage."
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