SHPA blasts Guild, 5CPA
May 16, 2013
THE Society of Hospital
Pharmacists of Australia says
this week’s controversy over the
Senate Committee report into
chemotherapy (PD Mon) has
revealed the lack of transparency
surrounding the Fifth Community
Pharmacy Agreement.
In a statement issued yesterday,
the Society said that despite
the Guild’s arguments that
chemo funding is not part of the
agreement, “the Senate Committee
found that the paper trail and
the Guild’s own announcements
showed that agreements between
the Commonwealth and the Guild
were intended to result in a cut to
chemotherapy funding, and that
any monies required to support
chemotherapy services should be
found from within the 5CPA”.
The SHPA said this shows that
“again and again the notion of
funding of pharmacy services
through an agreement negotiated
by a single pharmacy organisation
is revealing its shortcomings.
“In the past year in addition to
the chemotherapy issue we have
also seen a crisis in HMR funding,
delays in implementing the hospital
referral pathway for HMRs, and the
restrictions on rural CE allowance
to accredited Group 2 CPD,” the
statement said.
In particular, the SHPA said that
decisions that affect the interests
of Australian consumers, the
Australian healthcare system
and the pharmacy profession as
a whole “are made by a single
pharmacy organisation with limited
membership criteria.”
The Society said it believes that
a single pharmacy organisation
cannot adequately represent the
entire profession and the interests
of consumers across all sectors
where medicines are supplied.
MEANWHILE in relation to the
chemotherapy issue, the SHPA
says that current business rules
discriminate between patients
based on the ownership of the
pharmacy and the hospital where
they are treated.
SHPA has proposed an alternative
“revised and transparent model”
that clearly identifies the four
component costs of chemotherapy:
the cost of the medicine, the cost of
consumables, the preparation and
reconstitution fee, and pharmacy
professional services fees.
The proposal also includes a
revision of the business rules for
PBS claiming, including offering the
Chemotherapy Pharmaceuticals
Access Program (CPAP) to both
public and private hospital
pharmacy providers.
SHPA says it will seek to work with
DoHA on the $1.2m chemotherapy
review (PD yesterday) to ensure the
services can be “reasonably and
adequately funded.”
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