By Cam Lucadou-Wells and Shelby Brooks
A Labor-affiliated pharmacist is fighting against proposed 60-day changes to medicine dispensing by the Federal Government.
Springvale-based chemist Richard Lim, also a Greater Dandenong councillor, says the proposal to allow prescriptions for up to two months of PBS medication will hurt the profession’s viability.
Currently, the dispensing limit is for a one-month supply only.
According to Pharmacy Guild estimates, Cr Lim’s business will be hit by a 40 per cent drop in concession-card scripts, as well as paying up-front for extra stockpiles of medicines.
He says community pharmacies are already under pressure from big business competitors, and the erosion of dispensing fees.
They were making losses on certain medicines, including diabetes tablets.
“There’s a perception that pharmacists make a lot of money but that’s not true.
“Pharmacists are a soft target, and the Government keeps squeezing us.”
Cr Lim is effectively making a stand against his own party’s policy.
“I want them to understand how it impacts us before September. They have to think about it.”
With a shortage of pharmacists since Covid, Cr Lim worries if there’ll be a “next generation” of chemists.
He says he lost three staff due to a barrage of impatient, angry and rude customers during medication shortages at the height of Covid restrictions.
On Wednesday 26 April, Federal Health Minister Mark Butler announced the change to ease cost of living pressures, making hundreds of common medicines cheaper.
According to recent polling, it’s a popular move among voters.
But Cr Lim stated there was a misconception that it applied to all customers. In fact, the savings would only assist concession-card holders on specific Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme medication.
He claims that pharmacists save money for customers and the Government. Their free, trained advice forgoes the need to see a GP.
He also criticised the Government’s lack of consultation.
Tooradin pharmacist Brendan Green, who is on the committee of the Victorian Pharmacy Guild, said “there was an initial consult where basically the Department didn’t engage with the Pharmacy Guild in a productive manner”.
“It was essentially stated this is going to happen whether you like it or not,” Mr Green said.
In an interview with the ABC, Federal Health Minister Mark Butler said he rejected the notion that the government did not properly consult the Pharmacy Guild.
“I mean, at the end of the day people make up their own minds about what sufficient consultation is,” he said.
Mr Butler said he didn’t accept it was “Armageddon” for local pharmacies but conceded there would be an impact on the bottom line.
“We recognise that we want to work with them to ensure that community pharmacy remain sustainable, but this is so overdue,” he said.
Mr Green is concerned the changes will mean changes to the services he can provide the community.
“If that revenue is cut, we’d have to review opening hours. We’ll have to review how and what services we deliver and when we do them, so we may still be able to do vaccination, but we may have to cut the staffing and cut out hours,” he said.
“This will also increase out of pocket expenses for services such as medication packs, vaccinations and deliveries.”
Health Minister Butler told the ABC there would “to a degree” have an affect on supply demand, but “it’s not as if every single patient or customer of a particular pharmacy is going to come in on the first of September and demand 60 days of medicines”.
