The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia PSA have created a fresh new concept in pharmacy conferences which incorporates the best of previous conferences such as the CPExpo and PAC into an innovative new conference named PSA15.
Joe Demarte the newly appointed president of the PSA began by saying that Australian pharmacy is undergoing unprecedented change, our population is ageing, workers are declining and we are faced with a future problem.
The overarching theme of the PSA15 meeting was to identify and address how the pharmacy profession is going to address the rising problems of the future?
The unanimous answer was by leading pharmacy innovation and transforming the pharmacy into a health care destination.
Yet this leadership through innovation cannot be implemented in meeting rooms and forums, it needs the will and courage of the whole pharmacy community to raise themselves to a different level.
A level that removes them out of their comfort zones from behind their pedestals and computer screens where they ‘fill scripts’ and sip on cold coffee, to that of stepping to the level of the broken mum who is struggling to cope with a teething child, a full time job, sleepless nights and house that is a mess.
Step down from the pedestal and connect with a soon to be grandfather who hasn’t renewed his hypertensive script for months and is prone to have a heart attack or stroke.
It is the people of our nation who deserve the greatest care, our mothers fathers, our children and loved ones.
The time has come for pharmacy to search deep within their soul and make the change that will revolutionise the practice of pharmacy.
Look beyond the profit to make more profit.
Joe Demarte so rightfully said “If every community pharmacy prevented one person per day to go to emergency departments that will reduce the number of patients in emergency departments by 30%”.
“Pharmacy is the front line source of medicine and advice”, the health minister Sussan Ley said.
“It is the front line of modern health. The government recognises the central skills of the pharmacist, but it is up to you… the pharmacist to recognise your central skills and implement it by communicating with those who need them most, your customers and communities, because pharmacy is the cornerstone of communities”.
With the signing of the 6CPA agreement pharmacy is at a cross roads, stop focusing on each other and start focusing on health care, otherwise, prepare yourself for the 7CPA agreement, which many believe will not be as generous as the 6th.
Big brother will be monitoring pharmacies during the 6CPA agreement and will tailor the 7th agreement according to their findings, if you as a pharmacist step up to the occasion and prove that you are a formidable force in health care, you may be rewarded, if you continue trying to emulate discount models and focus purely on price then be prepared to watch Coles and Woolworths walk their discount pharmacy brides down the aisle, then let’s see what competing on price will do to your pharmacy.
We clearly know that lower levels of health care emerge when pharmacies are under financial pressure, so now is the time to look at sustainable models of growth, models that look beyond the price and turf wars to that of sincere patient focused health care.
Now is the time to be the leader who revolutionises the way your pharmacy operates and make your pharmacy a health hub for the community.