Dr Jackie Blue
National Party Associate Health Spokeswoman

29 March 2007

11th hour extension to Pharmacy contract a close call

A two month extension to the Pharmacy contract will give DHB negotiating teams time to reflect on how close they came to wholesale distress, chaos and confusion, says National's Associate Health spokeswoman, Dr Jackie Blue.

"Now it's time for the district health boards to roll their sleeves up and do some real consultation with pharmacists."

The pharmacy contract was due to come into force this Saturday but was met with huge resistance from the nation's pharmacists.

"Pharmacies that were not going to sign up by Saturday would not have received a subsidy from the DHB and would have had to pass costs to their clients.

"I was aware that there were 70-80 pharmacies in Canterbury alone that were not going to sign the pharmacy contract along with many others around the country.

"Come Monday, there would have been major fallout.

"For example, elderly patients on multiple medications and with no way to get to another pharmacy would have had to pay hundreds of dollars for their medicine.

"This is a step they would have not been taken lightly. Pharmacists feel they have been backed into a corner.

"Pharmacists have been asking for an extra 15 cents per script item from the DHBs to cover inflation and other compliance costs, or the right to charge an additional pharmacy fee to the patient.

"At risk are many small and in particular rural pharmacies that could still have to close their doors.

"The pharmacy contract negotiations over the past year have been fraught and one-sided, with the DHBs adopting a 'take it or leave it' approach.

"The patent lack of consultation by the DHBs with community pharmacists has striking similarities to the Auckland High Court decision at the centre of the lab services fiasco.

"The court overturned the Labtest contract because it found that the Auckland DHBs had failed in their duty to consult with a key stakeholder, the GPs.

"We could have had a repeat of the Auckland Labtest's debacle.

"This has been a close call. The DHBs now have two months to get it right."

ENDS

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