Prescription extension no cure

By Lachlan Ellis

A doubling in the number of medicines patients can receive will save those with prescriptions money, but pharmacists say the move will worsen a medicine shortage crisis.

The Federal Government announced last week that it intends to introduce 60-day dispensing for medicines in this year’s Commonwealth Budget, with patients currently only able to get a 30-day supply per visit.

The Government says Australians will save up to $180 a year as a result of the change, but pharmacists are worried the move will lead to panic buying, hoarding of medicines, and increased overdoses.

President of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, Trent Twomey, said the Guild has “very real concerns over patient safety”.

“If the Federal Government puts this proposal in the Budget, I am very concerned for millions of Australian patients who need regular access to critical medicine. There are already some 400 medicines in short supply in Australia and around 70 more at risk of becoming short,” Professor Twomey said.

“Australians may not be able to access medicines equally, with one patient having double the amount and another missing out. Local Labor MPs will need to explain to their communities why their community pharmacist cannot supply critical medicine to patients when they need it.”

Lauren Haworth is Pharmacist in Charge at TerryWhite Chemmart Maddingley, and said the pharmacy already has patients who have been waiting months for their vital medication.

“Who knows what’s going to happen. I think a lot of our anger comes from the unknown and how quickly this has happened, and the fact that all the plights of the pharmacists in this country – both owners and employee pharmacists – have basically gone completely unheard. We’ve been very vocal about this, and we’ve not had a single decent reply from the Federal Government about our concerns,” Ms Haworth told the Moorabool News.

“I think it’s smaller community pharmacies that will be most significantly impacted. One of the scariest things for me is there’ll be more people presenting to urgent care unable to get their medicines. I’ve just had a conversation with a woman who lives in our community, she’s really concerned about the medication she takes for heart failure, that she needs to stay alive.

“She’s just one person, imagine how many people there are in our community who are anxious about not being able to access their medicine. It just breaks my heart.”

Ms Haworth said the pharmacy’s list of medications that are out of stock is extensive, with 17 long-term out of stock medicines on the list. Included on that list is medication a patient has been unable to receive since early January.

“That medicine that patient is waiting for is for atrial fibrillation, her heartbeat doesn’t beat correctly. She’s been waiting for that medication since January…so she had to be swapped to a less optimal option. She’s not the only one, another patient has been waiting for that same drug since the beginning of March,” Ms Haworth said.

“There’s real faces and real patients standing in our store behind these decisions they’re making. Community pharmacists don’t become community pharmacists to tell people we’re out of stock – we become community pharmacists to help people.”