A pharmacist on the NSW Central Coast has won the right to operate a dispensary as part of a convenience store, after an Administrative Appeals Tribunal ruling following an initial decision by the Australian Community Pharmacy Authority denying him permission for the operation.
Geoff Seed sought approval to supply pharmaceutical benefits from a "free-standing house" in Erina, proposing running a pharmacy from the location as part of a larger business supplying groceries and other domestic items.
In 2016 the Australian Community Pharmacy Authority recommended that the application not be approved, and Seed sought review of that decision, with details of the ruling published last week.
The Tribunal heard evidence that Seed had obtained development approval to conduct a "neighbourhood shop with an ancillary dispensary," but the key issue relates to item 212(b) of the Australian Community Pharmacy Authority Rules which states that pharmacy premises "must not be directly accessible by the public from a supermarket".
The pharmacist testified that rather than operating a pharmacy "within" a supermarket, he was instead operating a single integrated business supplying, among other things, pharmaceutical benefits, and that the entire business including the pharmacy was accessed from outside the building through a single entrance.
Tribunal deputy president Bernard McCabe considered evidence about whether the proposed business was technically a "supermarket" with Seed saying this should only extend to "larger stores like those operated by Coles, Woolworths and Aldi, or perhaps IGA".
The Authority said the definition also extended to a 'neighbourhood shop' and provided a list of general merchandise stocked by the store.
After considering evidence about whether customers would do their weekly shopping at the proposed business, McCabe ruled there was a distinction between a supermarket and a neighbourhood store, saying "I am not satisfied the applicant's business is properly characterised as a supermarket".
Accordingly he set aside the initial decision by the Authority, instead recommending to the Secretary of the Department of Health that the application to supply pharmaceutical benefits for the proposed premises situated in Erina on the Central Coast of NSW be approved".
The full decision can be accessed by CLICKING HERE.
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