20 December 2017

WA pharmacy ownership rules anti-competitive, not in patients’ best interest

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) has called for increased competition and patient choice in its submission to the Western Australian Government Review of Community Pharmacy Ownership.

The RACGP does not support the current ownership rules and urges the WA Government to consider why these regulations apply exclusively to pharmacy.

RACGP Western Australia Chair Dr Tim Koh said general practice and pharmacy, while linked on paper, have a history of being segregated industries, which is detrimental to patients.

“General practice and pharmacy are intrinsically linked through their respective roles in prescribing and dispensing medicines for patients. Yet, in Australia, GPs and pharmacists generally work in silos,” Dr Koh said.

“Better integration of pharmacists into GP-led teams could bring benefits to patients as well as the healthcare team itself.”

Dr Koh said claims that pharmacy location and ownership rules promote access to PBS medicines and encourage sustainability of the community pharmacy sector are questionable.

“Several recent reviews have concluded that pharmacy ownership and location rules significantly prevent competition in the sector, stifle innovation, and do not exist in other parts of the healthcare system,” Dr Koh said.

 “The move to an incentive-based system to promote access and sustainability more closely aligns other parts of the Australian healthcare system and reinforces the position that location and ownership rules are an outdated method of promoting access.”

The most recent report from the Review of Pharmacy Remuneration and Regulation outlined options relating to pharmacy location and ownership rules.

The RACGP supports the views expressed in the report and suggests that those options are considered by the WA Government.


Media enquiries

Journalists and media outlets seeking comment and information from the RACGP can contact John Ronan, Ally Francis and Stuart Winthrope via:

Advertising

Advertising