Pharmacy Daily | WA pharmacy reform on the table

POLITICIANS from Western Australia's four main parties are committed to moving forward with key reforms of the community pharmacy sector after next week's State election.

Pharmacy Guild of Australia WA Branch President, Andrew Ngeow, welcomed written statements of support for the Guild's 2021 General Election Platform, from WA Labor, WA Liberal Party, the Nationals WA and the Greens WA.

"We were very pleased to have received such a strong level of commitment to community pharmacy," Ngeow said.

The Platform urged the incoming Government to utilise community pharmacy within the State's primary health network to improve patient outcomes.

"As a key part of the primary healthcare sector, the WA Branch thought it of the utmost importance to develop and advocate on a set of reforms which are effectively a blueprint for community pharmacy to deliver improved and more cost-effective health outcomes for all Western Australians," Ngeow said.

"There can be no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the urgent need for better utilisation of the training, expertise and experience within community pharmacy.

"I believe that the strong commitment received from the major political parties in Western Australia is recognition of that."

Having secured the support of the major parties, Ngeow said that following the election the Guild will commence working with the State Government to address the Platform's immediate priorities including expanding the pharmacy immunisation program to include COVID-19, the National Immunisation Program and travel vaccines, to implement continued dispensings on a permanent basis, to ensure greater inclusion of the community pharmacy sector in emergency and disaster planning, and to push for a review of the Commercial Tenancy (Retail Shops) Agreement 1985, to address the current imbalance in landlord/tenant relations.