The Seventh Community Pharmacy Agreement – signed in Canberra last week – provides certainty and stability for Australia’s 5,800 community pharmacies, and ensures the delivery of world class pharmacy services to Australian patients.
The ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ President of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, George Tambassis, said: “This is an Agreement for the times – negotiated over 12 months between the Commonwealth and the Pharmacy Guild, with the backdrop in 2020 of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The Pharmacy Guild thanks the Minister for Health, Greg Hunt, and the Department of Health for reaching this Agreement in the interests of all Australian patients who rely on their local pharmacy for medicines, advice and professional pharmacy services,” Mr Tambassis said.
Key features of the Agreement include:
- Dispensing remuneration increased and indexed to underpin the dispensing of more than 200 million subsidised prescriptions each year for Australian patients.
- Increased investment in regional, rural and remote areas through an increase in the Rural Pharmacy Maintenance Allowance.
- Expanding patient access to Dose Administration Aids by doubling the base cap for pharmacies providing the service and providing uncapped access for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
- Maintaining the investment in medication management programs to support older Australians’ medication management and adherence.
- Recognising improved health outcomes for Australians if the regulations around pharmacists administering vaccines are harmonised across Australia.
- New funding to enhance the Closing the Gap PBS Co-payment measure for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
