Guild supports the right for community pharmacies to charge

Guild supports the right for community pharmacies to charge for their services

The Pharmacy Guild of New Zealand (the Guild) reinforces the right for community pharmacies to charge extra for the provision of services on public holidays.

Yesterday morning on TV ONE’s Breakfast show the topic of community pharmacy surcharging for service provision on public holidays was raised, and its fairness questioned.

Community pharmacies, like all businesses, need to be able to set their charges to cover the additional cost of providing services on public holidays or after hours.

Where a patient will incur additional charges, the pharmacy must ensure the patient is advised of these charges in advance, such as through prominently displayed signage. This allows the patient to decide whether they are prepared to pay the extra charge or if they would rather wait to get their prescription filled during usual business hours.

Guild Chief Executive, Lee Hohaia says “Not all services provided by health care professionals are fully subsidised by the Government. If pharmacies do not recoup costs for these services from the patient, the sustainability of pharmacy service provision will be threatened. This is especially relevant on public holidays where overheads are higher, due to higher staff costs.

“Community pharmacy owners face a number of issues that threaten the viability of their businesses and the ongoing provision of their valuable services to patients. An increasing number of medicine-related services are not fully funded by the government. In the absence of full government funding, patients may be charged to cover any shortfall.

“We remind all Guild member pharmacies to make their patients aware of any additional costs by clearly displaying this information in the pharmacy.”

ENDS

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