PHARMACISTS could struggle to fill new two-month patient medications prescriptions.
They fear an already short supply of many medications will worsen under a new Federal Government’s new policy to change single scripts from 30 to 60 days.
“Unless the Federal Government provides a guarantee that no patient and no community pharmacy will be worse off under their new medicine policy then millions of people in every single community in Australia will be worse off,” said Pharmacy Guild of Australia president Trent Twomey said.
Mr Twomey’s warning has been echoed by Loddon pharmacists Kal Selwanes and Emad Sidhom.
They said the Government‘s $3.5 billion cut would impact patients and their ability to get medicine, advice and services from local pharmacists.
“The supply network is already shaking, and the Government knows there is already short supply of some medications,” said Mr Selwanes, owner of Inglewood Pharmacy.
Mr Selwanes said more than 300 medications out of stock in Australia.
He said patient medication needs can change within a two-month period and without more regular contact with patients, health risks could emerge.
“We don’t want to see waste when people have to change their medication,” he said.
Mr Sidhom said: “Medication needs can change in a month - diabetes and blood pressure are not stable conditions. “At the moment (30-day script dispensing) we are always seeing the patient and following up that they are using their medication.”
“If we have to carry double the stock, there’s also a risk of it losing value. It becomes a stock management problem with price fluctuations,” he said.
Mr Selwanes and Mr Sidhom said the Government had promised to re-invest in community pharmacies “but we haven’t seen any detail”.
They said the national $3.5 billion cut would impact patients and their ability to get medicine, advice and services from local pharmacists.

Mr Sidhom said the Office of Impact Assessments in a letter to the Health Department had already admitted analysis of the impacts on rural pharmacies were unclear and “are difficult to ascertain at this point of time”.
The office, part of the Prime Minister’s Department, said impact analysis would have benefitted from more recent public consultations on potential stakeholder impacts, particularly for small businesses and pharmacies in rural and remote areas.
Rural Pharmacy Network Australia said the office’s “adequate” assessment was one grade above “insufficient” and the minimum required for the Government to make changes., 
The Loddon pharmacists said changes to dispensing times for scripts could also see rural chemists review business structures. 
“We currently provide many free services - preparing Webster packs is one,” said Mr Selwanes. “But these changes will mean pharmacies and patients are worse off and we may have to charge for some services.”
Mr Sidhom said the worst scenario would be rural pharmacies becoming unsustainable or being forced to reduce staff or opening hours. 
“That is something I would be very reluctant to do,” he said.