THE closure of the Mount Magnet La Croix Pharmacy in Western Australia (PD 02 Dec) could be one of many to go out of business if a Rural Pharmacy Viability Package is not included in the Seventh Community Pharmacy Agreement (7CPA), the Rural Pharmacy Network Australia (RPNA) warns.
Responding to Pharmacy Daily, an RPNA spokesperson warned the one-size fits-all funding model for pharmacy failed to recognise the higher cost of operating in rural areas.
"[There is] inadequate recognition of the higher per-patient dispensing and non-dispensing workload faced by rural pharmacies, soaring labour costs, inadequate recognition of patient-centric collaborative care already being provided by rural pharmacies, funding models that undermine the professional role and commercial viability of rural community pharmacies," the spokesperson said.
"This is why RPNA is calling on all parties to the 7CPA to deliver a Rural Pharmacy Viability Package - a package that compensates rural pharmacies for the higher costs associated with delivering care to disadvantaged patients, the costs associated with attracting and retraining staff in rural and remote locations, and appropriate and flexible funding for clinical healthcare services."
Meanwhile, RPNA Chair, Fredrik Hellqvist, voiced support from the Federal Government's additional funding for professional development opportunities for allied health professionals based in rural parts of the country.
However, he expressed "serious reservations about whether the proposal is significant enough to be meaningful".
"In the bush, we need to work together, we can work together and like every team we must work together," he said.
The goal is better health outcomes for rural Communities.
"It is not a competition for funding, it is about a well-balanced team approach."
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