Editorial
Welcome to the first homepage edition of i2P for 2012.
In many ways it has been a slow start to the New Year because of having to deal with the “leftovers” from 2011.
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We apologise to all those potential subscribers who were unable to register with us in the second half of 2011, but if you try once more you should have no problem.
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Volume 2012 Number 1
Health Politics
Neil Johnston: Friends of Science in Medicine
Peter Sayers: Confessions of a Frustrated Pharmacist
James Ellerson: $75.5 million in 5CPA lying idle. Why is it so?EPublications
Guild Takes Aim at Gillard & Abbott Over 5TH CPA
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Dr Ian Colclough is an independent consultant well versed in the politics, vagaries and complexities of the health care industry. He has over 35 years experience in health informatics in a career spanning medical practice, public hospital administration, business development, market analysis, health software research and development, and strategic and tactical sales and marketing in the corporate health and ICT sectors in Australia, South Africa and the United Kingdom. As PHCOs step up to the health reform starting gate i2p asked Dr Colclough “How critical is eHealth to navigating the world of primary care?” | |
In The Australian Friday 23 July (Political creed: do no harm) Emma Connors reported that “sometime in the next four weeks both Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott are likely to sign a letter promising their support to a group of 5000 small business owners whose public standing allows them to extract an extraordinary pledge.”
She reported that the Guild had “asked the leaders of both sides of politics to agree that the terms of the recently enacted Fifth Community Pharmacy Agreement will be upheld, including the all-important promise to keep supermarkets out of pharmacy”.
At first I thought ‘How brazen is this?’
Is it smart politics I asked or the act of a big bully intent on getting its way?
Blackmail perhaps?
Playing one side against the other?
However one tries to describe it one is left with a most unpleasant feeling about this apparent misguided use of market power.
But more importantly it leads one to ask - what is the underlying reason for this ill-conceived ambush of Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott?
Suddenly the penny dropped.
The Guild was running scared.
It felt inadequate and insecure about its position.
It felt vulnerable, and its President was fearful that if the Prime Minister and the Leader of The Opposition could not be pressured and intimidated into signing a definitive letter of commitment, during the run-up to the election, then the new government, of whatever persuasion, might elect to put the 5th CPA under scrutiny; and where appropriate modify it.
One overriding concern about the Guild’s action stood out - Pharmacies-in-Supermarkets.
But it is not so much the ‘issue’ we should be concerned about but the Guild’s actions and modus operandi verging on over-bearing intimidation.
I found it quite disturbing that a peak body purporting to represent Australia’s pharmacists should resort to such tactics.
Shame.
The Guild’s decision to pressure Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott in this way is reflective of its leadership; do this or else.
Well Julia and Tony are astute politicians.
There is little doubt they have both had a belly-full of being dictated to by the Guild.
The more the President threatens about what he will do if they don’t both sign ‘the letter’ the more he exposes his concerns and insecurities about weaknesses inherent in the deal he has negotiated under the 5th CPA.
Is there any reason for him to be concerned?
More importantly, is there any reason why either politician should sign the Guild’s letter?
None whatsoever that I can see, except that if one side of politics signs the other will be forced to sign too, in order for one to neutralise the other; but to what avail?
The smartest thing for Julia Gillard and Tony Abbot to do is nothing; sign nothing; leave him to sweat. If they sign nothing they retain the power; if one signs they both lose and they hand back power and control to the Guild.
A healthy bipartisan solution is an unsigned letter.
And now, let’s just get on with the election.
Research Reports
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Neil Retallick: Are the discounters impacting community pharmacy beyond margin erosion? | open full screen
Kay Dunkley - BPharm, Grad Dip Hosp Pharm, Grad Dip Health Admin, MPS, MSHPA: Support services for pharmacists and doctors in the United Kingdom – Part 3 Royal Medical Benevolent Fund | open full screen
Staff Writer: Catch the early wave in 2012 and secure your valuable CPD Credits at the Guild Pharmacy Academy – NSW Convention | open full screen
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Preventive Medicine
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Submitted by Stan Smith on Mon, 23/08/2010 - 23:28.
Well the Guild got their letters from the leaders. Good on them. They are indeed strong letters of support for our model of pharmacy. They actually got two letters , including one two days before election clarifying the Coalition's PBS costings. As a pharmacy owner I am grateful they got that support because no other pharmacy group has done anything in this election campaign.
Submitted by P Smith on Sun, 08/08/2010 - 18:11.
What can the "President" threaten?
No pharmacy will close their doors, none will stop dispensing PBS items, cause there is always the guy down the road who wont do it and they will steal all their customers FOREVER!!!! :)
Submitted by Chris Wright on Wed, 04/08/2010 - 15:17.
Well, well. The PGA, being the most powerful "union" in the country seems to have suffered a bout of "temporary political insanity" by attempting to usurp both leaders of the major parties in the same breath. Has it escaped the PGA executive that the Members for Lalor and Warringah are probably more likely to marry each other than cave in to such an ill-conceived demand?
I do recall Minister Roxon commenting that the PGA will be treated as just another "interest group" early in the term of the incumbent government.
The PGA has obviously not listened, possibly at their peril.
Submitted by Henry of Melbourne on Sun, 08/08/2010 - 11:08.
.... and an even smarter thing for the Guild to do would be to advise Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott that it is withdrawing its request for a signed letter and to advise us all that it has done so. There is nothing wrong in recognizing the error of one's ways and the Guild would win few brownie points if it publicly did so. A good place to start would be to advise via the i2p newsletter's readership base that it has withdrawn its request.
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