INTHEBLACK February 2025 - Magazine - Page 38
F E AT U R E
“Eventually, the Pharmacy Guild and
the government came to an agreement,
known as the Eighth Community Pharmacy
Agreement or 8CPA, for a midway point.
For two boxes, we are now paid one
dispensing fee and two handling fees.”
THE IMPACT OF COVID-19
The COVID-19 period was good and
bad for the pharmacy sector.
Many pharmacists suffered burnout
because of the demands of frontline work,
O’Loughlin says. At the same time, the
sector was revolutionised in terms of scope
of work and perception of purpose.
During the pandemic years, pharmacies
became vital places in the community not
just for dispensing of the medicine, but also
for vaccinations.
“The pandemic brought massive change
in how we operated physically and
electronically,” Topp says.
“Our delivery businesses took off — some
of that through new apps that were developed.
Electronic prescriptions were dragged, kicking
and screaming, into the modern age. Now,
around 40 per cent of our prescriptions
arrive electronically.”
Members of the public realised
pharmacists were the most accessible medical
professionals in the community, Topp says.
At the same time, pharmacists developed
a new appreciation of their own role,
Ruhnau says.
“In our pharmacy, we describe ourselves
as chronic care specialists,” he says. “We know
the people who come to see us. If a particular
person says something is not right, we know
to pay serious attention because we have seen
them week after week, year after year.”
The private consultation rooms that
were designed in pharmacy spaces for the
administration of COVID-19 vaccinations
were recognised for their ongoing value
in direct health care. As a result, trials are
currently being carried out in pharmacies
for consultation and therapeutic advice
around urinary tract infections and
dermatology issues.
“The urinary tract infection trial has been
run through Queensland, New South Wales
and ACT pharmacies,” Topp says.
38 INTHEBLACK February 2025
“One of the most common reasons
a woman might present to a doctor is for
a urinary tract infection. Uncomplicated
urinary tract infections are eminently
treatable, after a review of symptoms
and patient history, with a short course
of antibiotics. If those antibiotics don’t work,
they can be sent to a doctor for further tests.
“For 97 per cent of healthy women under
the age of 65, a urinary tract infection is
something pharmacists can fix,” Topp adds.
“That frees up tens of thousands
of appointments with doctors for more
serious stuff.”
A GOOD PROGNOSIS
As big-box corporates focus on winning
the price war and stocking a range of beauty
products, community retail pharmacies
in Australia are eschewing fast-moving
consumer goods to focus instead on medical
products and services.
“Our offer is based on professional services
and products that align with a professional
model of pharmacy, rather than a
retailing/perfumes model,” Ruhnau says.
“It is that idea of never seeing a need
without trying to do something about it.
In the low socio-economic area in which this
pharmacy operates, some of the main needs
people have are simply for health literacy.
One of our main roles is to be coaches
and concierges for the health system.”
This stance is a dramatic change from
a decade or two ago, when pharmacies were
often considered simply “another retailer”
in the shopping centre.
“My mother was a pharmacist back
when the top-selling pharmacy items were
baby formula, nappies and Kodak film,”
O’Loughlin says. “Supermarkets took away
the baby formula and nappies, and Kodak
suffered from technology change.
Change is constant in our sector, and we’ve
just had to keep evolving and innovating
around it.”
“In saying that, there is also some
real permanence in human nature.
Our relationships with our patients
are timeless. People want connection,
and community pharmacy is essential
to providing that connection.” ■
READ
an article on public
health CFO
Rachelle Anstey
CPA
READ
an article on small
businesses in the
retail sector
