Guild to roll out support
June 26, 2014
The Pharmacy Guild says it
will offer a range of “practical
business support and advice” to
help pharmacies cope with the
challenges of price disclosure, with
an analysis of the Oct cuts (PD 20
Jun) confirming that the average
impact on pharmacies in 2014-15 is
likely to be close to $90,000.
Guild executive director David
Quilty said that with two of
pharmacies’ most frequently
dispensed PBS medicines, Lipitor
and Crestor subject to price
reductions of 37% and 46%
respectively on 01 Oct, the govt will
see PBS savings of about $1 billion
over four years.
Writing in this week’s Forefont,
Quilty said the Guild is not opposed
to price disclosure and recognises
the need for taxpayers to get value
for money from the PBS.
“However this should not occur
at the expense of hard-working
pharmacists and the viability of
local pharmacy businesses,” he said.
Quilty said he and Guild President
George Tambassis would be talking
to the government to explain that
pharmacies are reluctantly cutting
staff, opening hours and patient
services to cope with the impact.
He said the Guild would also
be focusing on 14 areas “where
we believe that pharmacies can
potentially enhance their business
performance,” with advice and
support delivered at conferences,
online and through Guild branches.
CL ICK HERE for the areas of focus.
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