Costs & red tape irk

A section of community pharmacists is irked over the addition of yet another compliance cost in the form of newly released pharmacy standards.

From 1 July, all pharmacy services in the country will be assessed against the new standard document, requiring the addition of a few revised processes and documents into what pharmacies are already doing to prepare for audit.

However, the document costs $81 plus GST, or 10% less for the PDF version. Pharmaceutical Society and Pharmacy Guild members have the option to buy the document at a 20% discount.

Motueka pharmacist Dave Ross says a new set of standards will affect every pharmacist in New Zealand because their pharmacy services will be audited against them.

“Surely, if these standards are so important, then every practising pharmacist should be sent a copy free or have the option to download a PDF free of charge.”

Kaeo pharmacist Viv Bath agrees, saying, while recovering printing cost is acceptable, the PDF version could be cheaper.

Mr Ross argues the reason the latest requirement has attracted such strong response is because of decreased income and ever-increasing costs of running a pharmacy. He says compliance costs for businesses in New Zealand are among the highest in the OECD.

“And guess what? They are made up of lots of little costs. Yes [$81 for the standards document] is unlikely to cause closure of our business, but the sheer weight of the combined compliance costs will.

“When was the last time these increased costs were acknowledged by our payers and we were given an increase in professional fee, or allowed the dignity of setting our own fees?” Mr Ross says.

Pharmacists told Pharmacy Today the standard document should have been free of charge, along with the audit tool sent prior to any audit.

Standards New Zealand spokesperson Shona Weller says her agency is a not-for-profit organisation, which relies on the sales of publications to cover costs and does not get any government funding.

 

Bureaucracy rattles

It is not just the cost of the standards document that has raised the hackles of some.

Some of the requirements included in the comprehensive document now place greater onus on pharmacists for their physical infrastructure too.

The Warrant of Fitness for pharmacy buildings, for instance, was hitherto left as the property owner’s responsibility. With the requirement now included in the standard document, pharmacists have to make sure their leased building meets the fitness standards.

“The document has set off a chain of events,” Mr Ross says.

“I am sick of being burdened by bureaucracy, especially when there are no discernable advantages for us or the patients.

“Only bureaucrats get anything from it; continuation of work, self-importance and growth of their fiefdoms.”

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