AMount Gambier pharmacist was one of thousands at Parliament House in Canberra last week protesting the Federal Government’s new 60 day dispensary policy.

From September 1, patients prescribed with common Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) listed medicines have received two months of medication for the price of a single prescription rather than the previous one-month supply.

Star Pharmacy Group owner Jennifer Maloney attended the Truth Rally Campaign organised by the Community And Pharmacy Support Group (CAPS) which is independent of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia.

Mrs Maloney said the issues with the policy include a lack of consultation, a pay cut to pharmacists, medicine shortages and consumer safety.

“Part of the protest is saying it was a rushed, ill-advised policy, did not consult with pharmacists about it and that’s what the pharmacy guild were involved in as well but they have brought it in anyway,” she said.

“Part of the 60 day dispensing problem is that pharmacists get paid per scripts they do, 60 day dispensing means halving that dispensing fee and that income which then has a flow on effect to other services and our revenue.

“Beyond that, pharmacists also have concerns that were not taken into account with medicine shortages and medicine safety with people having considerable amounts of medicine at home.

“A lot of consumers already know there’s over 400 lines of medicines that are currently unavailable in pharmacy anyway so we are having day to day battles with medicine shortages.”

The Seventh Community Pharmacy Agreement (7CPA) supports all Australians to access safe, affordable lifesaving medicines and services through community pharmacies.

The agreement is between the Federal Government, Pharmacy Guild of Australia and the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia and ends on June 30, 2025.

Mrs Maloney said pharmacists were “very disappointed” with Federal Minister for Health and Aged Care Mark Butler for not honouring the 7CPA and not listening to pharmacists.

“All of our pharmacy services, there is negotiated fees because our income is very much derived on what the government can shell out for us,” she said.

“Pharmacy is a very high employer for women traditionally so … this can impact women’s jobs, it can impact our services in the pharmacy as well.

“A lot of services in the pharmacy are offered for no charge like deliveries, blood pressure checks and going forward the modelling is seeming to suggest that this is just not sustainable.

“We had a lot of politicians coming down, Susan Lee, Pauline Hanson, Barnaby Joyce, they all came down, we had lots and lots of them coming down and walking through the crowd and listening to pharmacists about what was going on.

“It was pretty disappointing that Mark Butler did not come out or has not listened.

“I still think it’s important for people to put it out there or talk to their community pharmacist if they have questions because it is complex to understand.”