QUESTIONS are being asked about whether the funding allocated for professional services in the Seventh Community Pharmacy Agreement (7CPA) will satisfy the profession.
Speaking at the official launch of the 2019 University of Technology Sydney (UTS) Community Pharmacy Barometer yesterday, former Head of the UTS Graduate School of Health, Emertius Professor, Charlie Benrimoj, suggested the agreement signed in Jun did not match the expectations of the profession.
"If you look at the 7CPA (PD 12 Jun), I think we all expected a whole range of new services, but we didn't see that," he said.
"What people were telling us [in the latest Barometer survey] is that they wanted a greater proportion of funds to be allocated to services in the 7CPA.
"That's not really happened.
"We're getting 75% of people saying they want more for services yet we're not seeing more for services, although the story is because there was a $100 million underspend that [the $1.2 billion funding allocation for services in the 7CPA] is more money for services, but in reality it's not."
Benrimoj noted that while pharmacists wanted to see more funding for professional services, when the latest Barometer reading was taken in Nov 2019 (PD 20 Aug), there had been a decline in the proportion of pharmacies employing dedicated to the provision of services.
However, pharmacy owner and UTS Community Pharmacy Barometer Expert Panel member, John Bell, said this did not reflect a decline in service provision, but was a sign that pharmacists were taking on a number of different roles within their stores.
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 04 Sep 20
To see the full newsletter, see the embedded issue below or CLICK HERE to download Pharmacy Daily from 04 Sep 20
