Nationals leaders David Littleproud and Shane Love visit Northampton pharmacy ahead of 60-day dispensing law

Northampton has been used as a prime example of the potentially devastating impact awaiting community chemists under new 60-day pharmacy dispensing laws coming into force this week. Nationals Party federal leader David Littleproud was in Northampton last week to talk to the local pharmacy owner after his staffer Jake Ash, a former Horrocks resident, pointed out the Mid West town and its chemist was a good case study highlighting fears over the new prescription regime. The new law, allowing people to buy two prescriptions worth of medication for the price of one, will come into effect on Friday, September 1. But while saving customers, the changes will also see pharmacists finish their day with a halved income. The Federal Opposition tried unsuccessfully to overturn the laws. Joanne Loftus, owner and operator of Northampton Pharmacy, said the potential to see communities left without access to the essential service of a chemist was closer than people think. “This policy just makes business decisions impossible, because you actually don’t know what you’re going to be dealing with. It’s like just jumping into a black hole and hoping that at some stage, you’ll hit the bottom,” she said. The Northampton Pharmacy has Ms Loftus as the principal pharmacist as well as an assistant and two casual staff. Ms Loftus said the new laws could see he closing her doors for a portion of the week, in order to retain staff. She said policies from previous governments has affected her business over the past 18 years, and she run a lean operation as it was. “I’ve already cut costs. We’re already operating at the lowest that we can go,” she said. Although Ms Loftus is facing a tough business reality, she said the focus had and always will be her patients. “In rural towns, we have a smaller population, a poorer population and a sicker population,” she said. Ms Loftus said the collective impact of cyclone Seroja, the housing crisis and access to essential services had driven many away from town, and the dispensing law was another unnecessary blow for regional residents and small business owners. When asked about what alternative route would be more preferable, Mr Littleproud said he wanted the government to come back to the table to negotiate. “There are more pragmatic ways, and instead of rushing into this and having an arbitrary date, there should’ve been a long lead in to this,” he said. “Rural healthcare will continue to decline because of decisions predicated on on an ideology that’s thinking only about city city people and how they will work out.” Health Minister Mark Butler said the estimated $1.2 billion in savings from the measure would be reinvested in community pharmacies. “In the three months since I’ve announced this measure, there have been twice as many applications for new pharmacies to be opened,” Mr Butler said last week. The Opposition is expected to launch a new attempt to stop the prescription changes in Parliament next month.