Dispensing changes: Small town pharmacies squeezed by policy change

Country towns could lose their pharmacies in the wake of a federal government change to dispensing policy.

Regional Australians reliant on community pharmacies could find their local chemists at risk of closing thanks to a suite of government changes, according to a peak pharmacy body.

The Pharmacy Guild of Australia has slammed the federal government’s changes to the 60-day dispensing policy, which it says could result in more than 20,000 pharmacy job losses in four years and the closure of 665 community pharmacies, with regional and remote Australia more at risk.

The policy change would see patients able to buy two months’ worth of dispensed medication for the price of a single prescription, moving from a 30-day prescription cycle to a 60-day model.

Kim Collins is a pharmacist at the sole pharmacy in Berrigan NSW. She said the changes would have “all kinds of consequences” not only for the pharmacy, but for her small community.

“So the pharmacist only gets paid once in two months, instead of every month. But I don’t see a patient for two months. I don’t see a decline in their mental state or health, these are little things that you just pick up on when they come in,” Ms Collins said.

“The farmers coming in from out of town, it’s a chance for us to keep an eye on them.

“As a little community pharmacy, we’re here to do all those things for our patients. And this affects our ability to do that.

“We’re all a bit anxious because we don’t know how it’s going to look in 12 months’ time.”

Health Minister Mark Butler said the change was a way to remedy cost-of-living pressures, with patients able to save up to $180 a year if medicine could be prescribed for a 60-day period.

Pharmacy Guild of Australia president Trent Twomey said the policy was “catastrophic” in its current form, and was announced without consultation or modelling to understand the vast negative effects.

President of the Pharmacy guild Trent Twomey (right) has hit back at the federal government’s dispensing policy changes. Picture: Gary Ramage

“You scratch the surface and look behind the positive headline, and you find only a small number of people benefit compared to millions of Australians who will either miss out, pay more, or have reduced services,” Mr Twomey said.

“We are prepared to sit down with the government and discuss the viability of 6000 community pharmacies but they must be realistic about their policy’s impact and how rushed it has been.”