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Pharmacists around the country are opposed to plans to deregulate ownership saying it could spell the beginning of end of community chemists. Last month, the Associate Health Minister, Casey Costello, announced a plan to allow non - pharmacists to own chemists, something that would be brought in under the Medical Products Bill. She has described the current rules, which require pharmacists to have effective control over each pharmacy, as antiquated and outdated. But community pharmacists say similar moves in the UK have led to severe declines in the number of community providers, especially in rural and less well off areas. Kathryn speaks to Lanny Wong a community pharmacist/owner in Mangawhai and Andrew Gaudin, the Chief Executive of the Pharmacy Guild.
The Associate Health Minister Minister Casey Costello declined an invitation to to join the programme, but in a statement said the Ministry of Health had considered international evidence on pharmacy ownership and found no evidence of a link between ownership and patient safety, or service quality. She said we believe the goals of patient safety were better addressed through professional standards and fit-for-purpose modern regulation rather than pharmacy ownership structures. She said there real benefits to be had, especially in rural, harder-to-serve areas, from removing the current restrictions that prevent models such as health clinics with integrated pharmacies unless the clinic is owned by pharmacists.
