From September 1, millions of Australians will be able to buy two months’ worth of medicine for the price of a single prescription, with general patients saving up to $180 a year and needing fewer visits to the GP and pharmacist to get their medicine.
But pharmacists say the small saving of under $200 a year for most people, will come at a terrible cost.
Pharmacy 4 Less Auburn pharmacist Mariam Alhayaley says considering that 20 per cent of all medications prescribed ends in misadventure, increasing patient access to more meds could be asking for trouble.
“If patients can buy in bulk, many will and there is already a massive shortage in some medications so this will exacerbate that,” she said.
Lidcombe Masters Pharmacy’s Michael Teghlobi agrees, saying patients saving on a couple of hundred dollars a year in dispensing fees will hit pharmacies hard.
“It’s not a good decision, it’s always better to go back to your GP after 30 days to get checked,” he said.
“This move is not a safe one for patients and will be hard on pharmacy businesses which have costly overheads due to staffing and are open for much longer hours than doctors.”
Chemist Direct Plus Merrylands pharmacist Sam Ibrahim fears customers will stockpile medication and run the risk of them being out of date or misusing the product.
“There’s a shortage of stock as it is and this change will certainly lead to more accidents,” he said.
