RURAL pharmacies will likely reduce staff, opening hours and even close in some smaller towns, if the local industry reaction to the Federal Government’s recently announced 60-day prescribed drug dispensing policy goes ahead.

The government doubled the 30-day dispensing maximum to 60 days under the rationale that it would mean the advantage of less trips to a pharmacy for filling scripts, something claimed especially positive for those in remote areas.

In a follow-up to last week’s Spectator (Aug 19) article, pharmacy owners in rural towns have claimed it would lead to cuts in hours and staff, along with previously free services, such as supplying drugs to aged care facilities having to now be charged for.

Robson’s Pharmacy owner, Degen Murphy, has made his opposition to the changes publicly known, with several signs on his store windows denouncing the negative effects and warning locals to be wary of the claimed benefits.

“The issue about affordability can be funded in a different way,” he said.

“Having medicines more affordable – there’s one easy way to do it, you just halve the co-pay.

“So the patient may be paying $7.30 (and) pays $3.65 or instead of $30 pays $15.

“Then also it would be funded out of the government’s income, not a small independent pharmacy that’s going to be paying that difference.

“In reality, instead of being 12 dispensing fees a year, we’re only going to see them six (times).”

Mr Murphy has been running the Gray Street pharmacy since 1999 and said the change was “a catastrophic thing for the industry”.

“It’s just lucky that I’ve been in the game for (about) 25 years,” he said.

“But the poor fellow that’s just bought the pharmacy (nearby) - he’s gone because the covenants that the banks put on pharmacy businesses will mean that he will be below that income to sustain his loan.

“He will erode his cash flow and whatever he’s got left in the can and then eventually the bank will come along and say … ‘you can’t fund your loan, so we’re going to pull the carpet out from under you’.”

Wannon MP, Dan Tehan has strongly criticised the policy and said the government “need to start again, consult properly and make sure that regional and rural pharmacists won’t pay the costs”.

“It’s like they’ve walked into a pub and said, ‘We’re going to shout all the beer, but we’re going to make you pay for it’,” he said.

“It’s just the completely wrong way to go about it.

“When they negotiate the pharmacy agreement, which is a national agreement, they’re meant to take all these things into account. They haven’t done that, and they’re making pharmacists pay the bill and that means, especially for regional and rural pharmacies, less hours and less staff, and potentially in smaller communities, pharmacies actually closing.”

Mr Tehan said he had had seven or more local pharmacies contact his office who were “very, very upset with what has happened”.

“For some of them, it’s nearly a $150 to 200k hit to their business,” he said.

“Regional and rural pharmacists just cannot survive with that type of hit.”

Dunkeld pharmacist, Tony Ozoani, echoed the sentiments and said “effectively, you’re going to be losing half of your business”.

“That’s not good news,” he said.

“Also, in business, foot traffic matters also - the more people come in, they’re more likely to buy other things.”

With aged care, Mr Murphy explained the drug packs they prepared “have gone up 400 per cent” and said those facilities have to now pay that out of their own operating income.

“We use those dispensing fees to cross subsidise things, which means that if we don’t have the fees coming in, we’ve got to find other income,” he said.

Mr Tehan said his office has fielded calls from the aged care sector as well.

“They’re really concerned,” he said.

“The pharmacists do a lot of work for our aged care facilities. Now they’re going to be forced to have to charge for that so it’s going to have a double whammy effect.”

It has also been claimed the methadone program will likely become even scarcer in rural areas with the policy change, with the government already on July 1 this year changing the payment from fully private to a co-payment, with the extra red tape making the program even less viable for pharmacies to run.

“Everyone’s in agreement that we want cheaper medicines,” Mr Tehan said.

“What this is about is who pays for it. The Albanese Labor Government - if they’re going to shout that bar free beer - pay for it yourself rather than asking others to pay for it.”