Clarence Valley pharmacist Michael Troy from Southside Pharmacy has voiced his concerns surrounding the Federal Government’s proposed changes to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), which will allow Australians to purchase two months’ worth of medications for the price of a single prescription from September 1.

While Minister for Health Mark Butler said the changes would reduce the cost of medications for customers by up to 50 per cent, and effectively slash the price of 320 medicines on the PBS, Mr Troy disagrees, claiming if introduced, the changes will have significant negative impacts on regional pharmacies and their local communities.

Citing medication stock shortages as already being a huge issue, Mr Troy said the proposed changes could result in customers potentially missing out on securing regular and essential medicines, large quantities of medications being dispensed into the community, the introduction of fees for services including blood pressure tests, possible staff cuts, and scaling back operating hours to compensate for lost revenue due to a reduction in dispensing fees paid to pharmacists by the Commonwealth.

“There is nothing about this proposal which makes logical sense for our local community, or for us as a small regional business,” he explained.

“The numbers crunch suggests that should this proposal go ahead, $170000 of revenue will be lost out of the average community pharmacy.

“Lost revenue has an impact on any small business, and there would have to be a way for us to restructure, either by a reduction in staff, or a reduction in trading hours and/or open days, which would reduce the community’s access to the services we provide.

“Patients will ultimately be worse off if this proposal goes ahead.”

The move has also been condemned by the Pharmacy Guild of Australia.

Federal Member for Page, Kevin Hogan, said he stands strongly against the proposal, and revealed he could not foresee it as possessing any positive inputs for regional businesses or communities.

“This (proposal) will mean some pharmacies in our local communities will close, and some staff at the pharmacies which remain open will lose their jobs,” he revealed.

“It will also increase the pressure on pharmacies which are already experiencing medication shortages.

“Our regional pharmacies and communities don’t need this.” 

This article appeared in the Clarence Valley Independent, 10 May 2023.