“Winners never quit, and quitters never win,” Anthony Tassone tells our latest podcast that the Guild’s 8CPA negotiating team was relentless in its pursuit of a sustainable deal for the sector
AJP Podcast presenter Carlene McMaugh discusses the Eighth Community Pharmacy Agreement (8CPA), 60-day dispensing and the government’s recent vaping reforms with the Pharmacy Guild of Australia’s chief negotiator Anthony Tassone.
Topics covered include:
- The timeframe for the development of the 8CPA (1 min 08)
- Push for the restoration of equity in the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) (5:00)
- A funded pathway towards full scope of practice (6:04)
- Data was a key tool in setting the Guild’s agenda and ensuring the negotiating team “didn’t turn up with a knife to a gunfight” (7:26)
- Taking lessons from the past (10:02)
- Concerns around the potential impacts of 60-day dispensing place huge pressure on pharmacy owners’ mental health (12:36)
- The 8CPA has restored confidence and enthusiasm in the community pharmacy sector (13:56)
- Uptake of 60-day dispensing is below the Department of Health and Aged Care’s original forecasts (16:30)
- Funding secured through the agreement includes a 0% downside buffer for the first time (17:45)
- Take the opportunities to provide new services under state and territory scope of practice programs (20:36)
- Guild to seek more funded services and greater expansion of scope of practice in 9CPA (23:44)
- Government’s vaping reforms “policy on the run” (25:38)
- “Calling them therapeutic vapes, it’s really astonishing… it’s quite unprecedented what the government’s done here – I don’t expect it will succeed” (27:50).
You can access the full transcript of this podcast here. While we endeavour to ensure all important words and phrases are correct, please note there may be some minor inaccuracies in the transcription.
ACCESS PODCAST TRANSCRIPT
Pharmacists, pharmacy assistants, and pharmacy students who are struggling with mental health and professional issues can access peer-to-peer support through the Pharmacists’ Support Service (PSS) on 1300 244 910 between 8am and 11pm AEDT.
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Carlene McMaugh
