JOB cuts and service reductions in Swan Hill region pharmacies are expected after a Federal Government decision to reduce remuneration under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).
Pharmacists fear services for the elderly and vulnerable will be the first victims of the unexpected funding cut of, on average, about $38,000 per pharmacy, as estimated by the national peak body for pharmacies.
Marraboor Pharmacy partner Fiona Robertson said she would be faced with little choice but to cut about three of her 25 staff (not rehiring after resignations) and/or cut services.
The partner in the Swan Hill business said PBS funds were increasingly directed towards cheaper generic drugs and cancer medications.
Accordingly, chemists were bracing for a cut, which was negotiated by government and industry to be $50,000 (for the average pharmacy) starting in 2014-15.
But the cut was raised to $90,000 earlier this month with little to no industry consultation.
And instead of the cut being introduced over 18 months, as had been agreed, pharmacies have been given a year to balance the books.
“We saw what was coming, with generic drugs becoming cheaper, so we worked with the government to make things sustainable, but they shifted the goalposts,” Ms Robertson said.
For more of this story see Monday’s Guardian (August 19).
