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Articles on Community Pharmacy Agreement

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The Pharmacy Guild of Australia was founded in 1928 as an employers’ organisation for the owners of community pharmacies. From shutterstock.com

What is the Pharmacy Guild of Australia and why does it wield so much power?

The Pharmacy Guild represents the owners of community pharmacies around the country. Their reach into every community and large political donations make them more powerful than other lobby groups.
It can be more convenient getting a script from a pharmacist rather than visiting your GP. Jacob Lund/Shutterstock

The evidence shows pharmacist prescribing is nothing to fear

Prominent GP and former MP Kerryn Phelps has weighed into the doctor-pharmacist turf war, saying pharmacists shouldn’t prescribe because of their financial interests. But the evidence says otherwise.
Pharmacists receive no financial incentive to counsel patients about how to take their medicines. That needs to change. from www.shutterstock.com

Pay pharmacists to improve our health, not just supply medicines

Pharmacies are paid a set amount to dispense most medicines, so the more they dispense, the greater their income. But there’s a better way to pay pharmacists and improve health care at the same time.
Supermarket pharmacies have been around in the US, UK and mainland Europe for years. But will Australia follow? from www.shutterstock.com

A loaf of bread and a packet of pills: how supermarket pharmacies could change the way we shop

If Australia follows international trends and allows supermarkets to open pharmacies, what are the effects on neighbouring pharmacies? And when does running a business mean health care suffers?
The current rules seek to ensure most Australians have access to a pharmacy staffed by a highly skilled professional with a pharmacy degree. Shutterstock

Relaxing pharmacy ownership rules could result in more chemist chains and poorer care

Only pharmacists can own a pharmacy and you can’t set one up within 1.5km of an existing one. But calls to loosen these rules could give health companies a green light to set up more chemist chains.
Patients pay a contribution towards the cost of their medication to the pharmacist who then claims the difference between what they paid and the patient contribution from the government. Gustavo Gomes/Flickr

Explainer: what is the Community Pharmacy Agreement?

Australians make an average of 14 visits to the pharmacy for medicines and advice every year but most don’t know about the agreement that governs how we buy government-subsidised medicines from them.
Ownership and location rules ensure that Australia’s pharmacy sector is protected from competition. Anders/Flickr

The right prescription: pharmacy sector in dire need of reform

Despite calls for reform to make the pharmacy sector more competitive, governments are loath to take on the quietly-powerful Pharmacy Guild of Australia, the professional body for pharmacists.

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