The new agreement negotiated between the Pharmacy Guild and the Federal Government has failed to improve pharmacy services or further the role of the pharmacist within the health care system, the union for employee pharmacists has declared.
Under measures proposed in the Fifth Community Pharmacy Agreement, details of which were recently released by the Guild, a new Prescription Commitment would compel pharmacies to issue every patient filling a prescription with a leaflet tailored to the patient and the drug dispensed.
The Quality Care Pharmacy Program will also become more rigorous and will be supported by a new pharmacy practice incentive, which will include the medication management services such as helping patients take their medicines consistently and improve health literacy.
According to the Pharmacists' Division of AMESMA, however, such measures do not go far enough and entrench pharmacists' role as "drug dispensers and shop keepers".
"Highly qualified pharmacists are ready to step up to the plate to use their skills to provide much needed monitoring and advice around medicines and health, which will help relieve the strain on hospitals and doctors," APESMA president Geoff March said.
"Pharmacists could play a key role in preventative health, handle immunisations and monitoring chronic conditions. We've spent a lot of time learning these skills and want to play our part improving the delivery of health services to Australian patients.
"But the Pharmacy Guild is stuck in an old-fashioned view of the role of pharmacists as limited to drug supply and is blocking essential health reform."
Mr March said pharmacists were being excluded from more efficient and effective forms of health care services, such as collaborations with other health professionals through co-location.