Editorial

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Welcome to the May 2012 homepage edition of i2P-Information to Pharmacists. Rollo Manning has been having some time out having staples removed from the site of his open heart surgery.He is now at home recuperating in Darwin, having arrived home last Friday, beating a cold and hasty retreat from Canberra.We all wish him a speedy recovery and hopefully, he will be fit enough to contribute by next month.
This month, Pharmedia discusses the toll that is taken when someone complains about you to an authority without good cause. Well, the good news is that you can now take action to protect yourself if such a complaint is made, and that may even include action for defamation. Read about a recent case involving two doctors, with Mark Coleman drawing on personal experience to illustrate.

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Health of Consumers must drive the Health Debate

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Editing and Researching news and stories about global and local Pharmacy Issues

In a recent media release by the PSA, National President Warwick Plunkett said:

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Now it could be said that a similar criticism could be made in respect of the ongoing debate between the two national pharmacy political bodies – one recognising the status of “pharmacists” while the other (PGA) only recognising the status of “pharmacies”, with PSA having the only visible program for health consumers in the form of “Self Care”.

It is becoming increasingly obvious that this division in pharmacy is doing little to deliver primary health care, because the only person capable of delivering this service is the health practitioner pharmacist.

This is a person that needs to be legally defined in legislation and should be one of the actions to be referred to the new Pharmacy Board of Australia.

Mr Plunkett went on to say that,” It was clear that both parties were doctor and hospital-centric in their view of the health-care system.”

Pharmacy provides huge opportunities for the health-care system, and any reform process that does not utilise the pharmacy profession is ignoring one of the greatest resources and assets within the system.

We have had Government reports urging greater emphasis on primary health care and preventive health, both of which are areas where pharmacy is uniquely positioned to play a critical role.

The primary health-care team was not mentioned.

When does the Government propose to seriously focus on this crucial aspect of health care?”

Possibly the simple answer to the above is that primary health care in pharmacy will be recognised by government when pharmacy programs become visible to both health consumers and government. Pharmacy owners need to invest in proper infrastructure and be prepared to pay for practitioner pharmacists to deliver these services.

Health consumers will then drive the debate at government level and government funding may then materialise because visibility and need are established.

Mr Plunkett continued:

“Certainly hospital reform is a huge component of the reform of the health system, but it is not the only component. There are many other areas of the system which can contribute to helping the Government meet its objectives, and prime among these is pharmacy. Community pharmacy provides a range of professional services that help to combat some of the pressing health issues facing Australia today, including smoking cessation, diabetes and obesity.

Recognising the need for greater emphasis on preventive health, PSA has made a Budget submission in which it urges the Government to look more closely at increasing the range of professional services available through pharmacy with a view to cutting costs across the board and ensuring the sustainability of the health-care system.

Utilising the skills and services of community pharmacies, which are the most accessible health-care professionals in Australia with a network extending across Australia, must be one of the main planks in any health policy,”

As pharmacists we all know what we can do, but we do not seem to be able to harmonise our professional service delivery message politically.

While the PGA is regarded as one of the strongest political lobby groups in Australia, it is only delivering part of a message in the mistaken belief that it is truly representing its membership.

Perhaps PSA can develop different channels of political communications.

For example, the Victorian nurses encouraged their membership to further encourage the general public to bombard the “In Tray” of Minister Lindsey Tanner, as he was thought to be the most influential politician to deliver their message.

It seems to be succeeding.

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