Supermarkets locked out
March 14, 2014
Minister of Health Peter
Dutton has re-committed to
the government’s pre-election
undertaking that retail giants will
not be allowed into pharmacy.
Speaking at APP 2014, the
Minister said the government
could not commit to various cases
argued by pharmacists to him in
recent years, such as regulating
rents or paying a subsidy to staff,
but that the government would not
allow supermarkets into pharmacy,
a statement which was greeted
with pleasure by Guild national
president George Tambassis.
Dutton said pharmacists’
investment should be supported
through fair remuneration for
work undertaken on behalf of the
government but in a transparent
way, and pharmacists should
receive “fair and proper return” on
capital investments.
“I’m open to discussions about an
agreement which pays for tangible
services and interventions that will
provide better patient outcomes.”
The time was right to start a
discussion about the future of
pharmacy, which Dutton said he
saw as a cornerstone to deliver not
just medications but patient care
on a daily basis.
The workforce was professional,
tertiary trained and had significant
professional development and
post graduate studies making
pharmacists qualified and trusted
in the delivery of patient care,
and the agreement provided the
opportunity to look at innovative
ways of funding and continuing to
help pharmacy develop.
Australian government spending
on healthcare had more than
doubled in the past decade to
$62 billion annually which would
increase by another $13b in the
next four years, Dutton said.
With the nation spending $120
million every week on healthcare,
a key issue is rate of growth, which
was why more “outcome focus”
was needed within the system, the
health minister added.
Pharmacies were the most
visited healthcare destination in
the country, and pharmacists were
central to any of the discussions
that the government had.
“Our objective is your objective:
to deliver better and more cost
effective health outcomes for all
Australians,” Dutton said.
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