THE Consumers Health Forum has recommended that the Sixth Community Pharmacy Agreement be abolished, and replaced by "separate negotiations and agreements on areas such as the dispensing fee, and the funding and performance of professional services by pharmacists".
The radical option is part of the CHF's submission to the Review of Pharmacy Remuneration and Regulation, with the organisation also urging the deregulation of location and ownership rules.
"The rules governing pharmacies, which will receive $18.9 billion over the next five years under the current pharmacy agreement, need to change to reflect changes in community expectations and potential health reforms which will change pharmacists' working relationships with other health professionals," according to CHF ceo Leanne Wells.
"The requirement for a pharmacy to be owned by a pharmacist is an anachronism...already many pharmacy owners with multiple stores have to use staff pharmacists," she said.
The CHF submission also takes issue with the bilateral nature of negotiations between the Guild and the government, saying that with pharmacy being a vital community service involving an investment of billions of dollars "it is a matter of good governance and public policy that alternative governance arrangements should involve multilateral negotiations and the involvement of key stakeholders such as consumers".
Wells said CHF believes the funds should be used more broadly, "not just in the narrowly defined retail pharmacy setting".
Other key CHF recommendations include continuing the $1 discount on co-payments, the central administration of the PBS safety net via Medicare, and a protocol on advising customers of interactions between prescription and complementary medicines.
View the submission at chf.org.au.
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