Amcal Leongatha opposes major medicine policy shift

BRETT Nagel of Leongatha Amcal Pharmacy and business partner Kerryn Reidy are greatly concerned about the Federal Government’s intended move to 60-day scripts for many medications.

“They say it’s about saving money but it should be about quality use of medication,” Brett said.

“By getting double quantities (of medication), it’s going to confuse a lot of people, and a lot of hospital admissions are associated with medication problems, so is this going to put more strain on the hospital system?”

He acknowledged some countries are already using a system of medicine dispensing comparable to what is proposed but stressed that doesn’t mean it is the right approach.

“We have the best system in the world,” Brett said, adding that the government is looking to move away from something that has served people well for a long time.

He also spoke of the expected impact on employment in the pharmacy industry.

“Probably 30 percent of the workforce will lose their jobs, so that’s going to be a huge impact, especially in country areas,” Brett said.

He argues that if the government wants to reduce costs for patients it can achieve that aim by reducing the maximum payment for a script from $30 to $20.

Brett reflected on the role pharmacies played during the recent pandemic.

“Pharmacists and pharmacies stepped up during Covid and worked through all these isolation periods,” he said, pondering the ramifications of the recently announced government policy should another pandemic arise in future. Brett stressed pharmacies would then likely face comparable demands with potentially 30 percent less staff.

He said while pharmacists will still endeavour to provide services such as vaccination, the new approach to dispensing medicine and resultant income loss would make such services increasingly difficult to offer. “We’re community based, so we’re always trying to do things for the community,” Brett said.

He forecast a horrendous period for all pharmacies and staff should 60-day dispensing proceed and questioned what will become of pharmacy graduates, saying many will be forced to leave the industry.