A coalition of independent one-pharmacist pharmacies has banded together to form the Small Pharmacies Group (SPG), making a joint submission to the government's Review of Pharmacy Remuneration and Regulation to highlight their collective plight.
Membership currently spans five states and one territory of Australia in both rural and urban locations, with the group defining a Small Pharmacy as one which is classified as 'low' annual turnover under the 2016 Guild Digest ($1.568m) and which would dispense less than 35,000 prescriptions annually.
"The existence of viable, small and independent pharmacies is crucial in order to ensure choice for customers," the submission states, with small pharmacies said to be in a particular position to optimise the health of their patients "because of the personalised and tailored approach that we can offer".
The SPG says ongoing "price disclosure shocks" have a severe impact on cash flow and stock management, while expanding professional services is often not feasible in small pharmacies, with insufficient remuneration involved to justify extra staff costs required.
The group added that its members do not consider it good value to be part of buying groups that "extract considerable fees, that force us into buys that do not match local demand, and that are not generally suited to the needs of small pharmacies".
View the SPG submission online at health.gov.au/pharmacyreview.
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