THE Community and Pharmacy Support Group (CAPS) has organised another protest in Canberra on 06 Feb, to coincide with the first sitting day of Parliament, as it says negotiations for the Eighth Community Pharmacy Agreement (8CPA) still remain uncertain.
CAPS is urging the community to save the date, with the protest contingent upon the state of the 8CPA by the end of Jan.
As CAPS prepares for an "energetic year ahead", it stated it is determined to continue the fight to "secure a constructive future" for community pharmacies.
This year, CAPS aims to bring viability, sustainability, and deserved recognition to the pharmacy profession, and will continue to work together with all stakeholders to ensure that community pharmacy remains accessible to the patients and communities that they serve.
The group added as the most accessible healthcare profession, community pharmacies have faced unprecedented challenges over the past year, most notably the introduction of the 60-day dispensing (60DD) policy by the Labor Govt in Mar 2023.
CAPS spokesperson Christine Kelly remarked that in "just a couple of years after keeping their doors open throughout the uncertainties of the COVID-19 pandemic, community pharmacies found themselves the target of a govt looking to win points in its battle against the cost-of-living crisis".
Following the 60DD policy announcement, CAPS united and began its grassroots campaign which soon gained momentum.
This culminated in a protest at Town Hall in Sydney (PD 18 Aug 2023), where pharmacists, pharmacy staff, students, families, friends, and patients from around Australia gathered to demand that the govt "pause and consult" on the 60DD policy with the pharmacy profession (PD 24 Aug 2023).
CAPS then took its fight to Canberra in Sep last year, where nearly 3,000 people gathered at Parliament House, with an additional 3,000 participants joining online (PD 06 Sep 2023).
Supportive Liberal and National politicians joined the rallies, pledging their commitment alongside the pharmacy community.
"We wanted the govt to commit to its pre-election promise that no pharmacy or patient would be worse off; as far as I am concerned, this is a govt of broken promises," Kelly concluded. JG
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