"It's been a difficult year, no doubt," said Pharmacy Guild National President Professor Trent Twomey.
Speaking at this week's BPD Annual Conference, Professor Twomey said, "I am looking forward to the details of the Eighth Community Pharmacy Agreement becoming public. It should happen very soon because the three things the Guild said we needed to have answered to our satisfaction to sign were proper compensation for 60-day dispensing, more gains in more affordable medicines, and a credible path to full scope.
"If we're getting close, I think my National Council, what I would take from that if I were you, is my National Council thinks those things are close to being answered."
Professor Twomey said the Albanese Government was surprised by pharmacy's fierce response to the inclusion of 60-day dispensing in last year's Budget.
"You don't get the Prime Minister and every member of Cabinet's Expenditure Review Committee personally calling you if they weren't surprised. So it's not something I have to say we enjoyed doing, but it's something we'll do again if it needs to be done. For three business days, we blocked every phone line in every Labor MP and Senator's office. So, the entire Government just ground to a halt. For those who didn't answer the phone, we sent white coats to greet them at their door until they took our meetings. It's a shame that it had to get to that, right? Because 34 years of community pharmacy agreements have always delivered two things: a dividend for the taxpayer and a viable Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme."
Regarding lessons learned, Professor Twomey said, "We were genuinely blindsided by the axe to grind that policy officers had in peak medical bodies. We've got proof of this in writing. It's amazing."
"I genuinely don't believe Mark Butler gets up in the morning, puts his boots on and wants to make a wrong decision. That is genuinely not him. But I think he would question advice, and I think his staff would question advice more next time around," he said.
"Budget night. I'll give you this, I'll give an analogy. It was chalk and cheese on Budget Night 2023 versus Budget Night 2024. Both of them were Labor party events. The Guild is not a fairweather friend. We only see Governments and alternative Governments. There's no such thing as an Opposition in our mind.
"So we're at the Labor Party event last year and at the Labor Party event this year. Last year. A lot of people were in that room. You would've thought I had leprosy. It was like I was walking through the crowd, and it was just parting and not making eye contact as I was walking through
"This year it's completely different. 'Can I pull your chair out?' 'Would you like a refill?' 'Don't get up, mate, I'll get it for you'. It's not lost on me. Right? I've always believed that any attack on any stage of the supply chain will inevitably be felt by the rest. Whether that is someone above me in the supply chain or below me, that means the patient."
In response to a question about whether the Guild expected more support from the industry, Professor Twomey said, "Well, it's not hard to expect more because there wasn't anything."
"An attack on any element of that supply chain is an attack on all of us. It was a missed opportunity for this sector to stand with the Guild. Some patient groups did, but most didn't. I don't hold a grudge. I'll never forget, but I don't hold a grudge. Don't expect me to reach out."
