A truckload of signatures
October 23, 2013
The Pharmacy Under Threat
petition has been delivered to
the House of Representatives in
Canberra – 1.1 million signatures
reaffirming the value patients
put on their local community
pharmacy.
It took a sizable utility to do it
– but 22 boxes of petition forms
were transported up the hill from
the Guild national secretariat in
Canberra.
The mammoth petition response
will be a key plank in the Guild’s
campaign, and reinforce to
politicians the importance
placed by patients on community
pharmacies.
The petition, launched in early
August, is believed to be the
largest number of signatures ever
presented to the Australian House
of Representatives.
This followed an amazing effort by
pharmacists and pharmacy staff all
over Australia.
The petition calls on the House to
take whatever action is needed to
ensure that community pharmacy
receives the funding support it
needs to stay in business, serve
patients, employ staff and remain
open.
This follows the decision of the
former Labor Government, without
consultation, to accelerate the
Price Disclosure mechanism for
PBS medicines without adjusting
pharmacy remuneration.
The Guild has said they would
like to say a big ‘thank you’ to all
pharmacists, pharmacy assistants,
pharmacy students, wholesalers,
banner groups and pharmacy
media who supported this
significant project.
Pictured above are Guild National
Director Policy and Regulatory
Affairs, Ann Dalton and Executive
Director David Quilty farewelling
the ute full of petitions as it headed
off to Parliament House yesterday.
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 23 Oct 13To see the full newsletter, see the embedded issue below or CLICK HERE to download Pharmacy Daily from 23 Oct 13
