-
The King and I – Shall we Dance?
Speculation is growing that the King Review – a review of future pharmacy options for the federal government – has been asked to consider two additional options: * Open ownership including supermarkets and foreign operators. * A government-owned franchise model involving full nationalisation of the pharmacy sector. The reasons given for the investigation of these…
-
Micro-practice – Future Direction for Pharmacy
I2P has long proposed that pharmacy attracts two types of consumers – customers and patients. A little reflection will resolve this issue because clearly, customers will be attracted to the more commercialised aspects of pharmacy that compete with retailing in general, and the reason why pharmacists see their major competitors as supermarkets and variety stores.…
-
The Amazon Supermarket (and Pharmacy) Coming to a Place Near to You
Just before Christmas 2016 i2P alerted pharmacists to a global retailer (Amazon) making plans to enter the Australian market with a massive retail offering (see http://i2p.com.au/how-amazon-will-dominate-global-retail/ ) and ambitions to dominate the entire retail sector. Amazon, of course, is already known in Australia for its online retailing of books While it often seems that some…
-
The Pharmacist Advocate – Happenings in a Global Pharmacy on its way to you!
Editor’s Note: In March 2016 i2P published an article by Peter Sayers regarding the globalisation of Australian community pharmacies (read http://i2p.com.au/understanding-the-impacts-of-a-global-pharmacy-invasion/ ). We also published well before the last election that Medicare privatisation issues would became the focus of that election and that the election would be basically fought on health. Future elections are likely to keep…
-
Four trends that will drive future health policy – PGA analysis
A recent bulletin was issued by the Pharmacy Guild of Australia (PGA) that gave an insight into the thinking behind the 7CPA preparation that will commence shortly. i2P thought that this would be an excellent point in time to contribute comment in a constructive manner. Hopefully a “think-tank” process may evolve where input can be…
-
The Perfect Prescription
In the world of pharmacy we have evolved from basically a practice that dealt in compounded prescriptions of herbal substances at an affordable cost to a plethora of synthetic drugs supported by dubious evidence. And it has happened in my lifetime. My query is that if we have a situation where so-called solid evidence exists…
-
Boots Accused of Profiteering Over Professionalism
Boots has been accused of boosting its profits by forcing staff to abuse an NHS scheme intended to help sick patients. Managers at Britain’s biggest pharmacy chain were found to be directing their pharmacists to provide medicine-use reviews (MUR’s) to patients who didn’t need them, in order to claim public money from the NHS. The NHS…
-
The Move Towards PBS Privatisation – It is a Possibility and Could Provide a Wrecking Ball for Community Pharmacy
I am always suspicious of government motivation when they move the chess pieces around the board without an appropriate explanation. Dating back to the start of the Coalition taking power there was discussion that highlighted the poorly defined role private health insurance plays in the funding and delivery of Australian health care, and how government…
-
Alliance Boots will Spearhead a Global Onslaught with our Goverment’s Assistance
The news broke last week that Alliance Boots was making plans to enter the Australian market. This appears to be another step in the global concentration of community pharmacy, which Australian pharmacy has been able to withstand. Until now. The original Boots pharmacy group, a UK-based company, was recently taken over by the largest retail…
-
The Formal Documents Required for a Functioning Pharmacy Business
Many pharmacy businesses (even some of the larger variety) often do not conduct important aspects of their business by having basic contracts/agreements in place for each activity. You do not have to be a legal expert, when often all that is required is an exchange of letters confirming details of your mutual discussion and your understanding…