Editorial

From the desk of the editor

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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Pharma-Goss - With Rollo Manning

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Rollo Manning has experienced pharmacy practice from all sectors of the industry – retail, administrative, policy and remote Aboriginal practice. He spent 10 years with Glaxo Australia and was the first Director of Public Relations at the Pharmacy Guild National Secretariat in Canberra. He has also held the position of Pharmacy Policy Officer for Territory Health Services in Darwin. Rollo is currently a Consultant working in his own practice with remote Aboriginal communities, in Northern Australia.

Opportunity lost or reality regained

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Then there is the plight of the employed pharmacists which never seems to change especially with the hourly rate paid. Sure there are some exceptions but these are rare and for a while there it did appear as though the impassioned pleas by a few on behalf of the majority of practicing pharmacists in Australia might have been gathering traction but alas it fizzled – probably to be revived again in a few years when someone else gets a passion for the mission.

The single registration authority being developed in Canberra so there is only going to be one registration for all pharmacists across Australia has forged ahead. This has been unnoticed as the Pharmacy Board castles in each State are quietly trying to maintain their stranglehold on the myriad of regulations that might be best handled by a Department of Business at the State level (who should own a pharmacy) or by local government (how big should the signs be). The apparent lack of interest is matched only by the lack of information being given out. The end beneficiary of the National registration system will be those pharmacists that transcend State boundaries in their practicing life- either as owners or locums.

The most significant event has been the lobbying towards the Fifth Community Pharmacy Agreement – and this has been in the province of the Guild – as the primary negotiator named in the National Health Act – and the other parities that want to have some input to the discussions. Now there is no reason why input to discussions cannot take place but the trouble has been that no party has been prepared to put up their hand and organise a forum at which alternative approaches could be canvassed. Apologies if this has been misread as with all the conferences and, seminars and symposia held around the country one would think one of them could have been geared towards this end.

When an evaluation is done of all these events the only conclusion that can be reached is that each is directing its efforts towards the select group of pharmacy stakeholders that it is likely to have its next bread buttered by.

Maybe this is wholesalers, manufacturers, friendly societies, the profession body (PSA) or the hospital pharmacists.

Where was the banner that said “Where to pharmacy in the next 5 years? – towards the Fifth Agreement.”

Sorry but this column missed it but is sure someone will correct it if wrong.

The main feature missing today from pharmacy profession is real leadership in an unbiased way and concentrating on the real end user of services – the consumer.

Remember who that is – the person who pays the bills.

It is time for the entire profession to understand that it is just a small player in a large mix of health professionals striving to find a way of delivering health to Australians – with the emphasis on health and NOT ill health.

When pharmacists can take their place in a primary health care team as equals to other allied health professionals they will have come of age. In the meantime the insular and navel gazing mentality will continue to shield the pharmacist from the rest although continuing to pledge the “best system in the world”.

All that can be said is “whose world? – certainly not the real one”

Comments may be entered in the panel below, or to the Editor or email Rollo Manning on rollom@iinet.net.au

Send your subject suggestions to Pharma-Goss for comment.

Edited by Rollo Manning at rollom@iinet.net.au

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