..Information to Pharmacists
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Your Monthly E-Magazine
OCTOBER, 2003

SIMON RUDDERHAM

New Owner Pharmacist Perspective
Woolworths Rx-Keeping them at Bay

So Woolworths have indicated that they are keenly interested in making serious moves into the pharmacy market.
They see it as an opportunity to consolidate 100% of the consumer market in their one stop shop, which already consists of greengroceries, liquor, smallgoods, petrol, bakery. It would be a natural progression for them to look to pharmacy.
Pharmacy is not a traditional commerce, and I think once (if) Woolworths manage to break into that market, they will find that to be problematic.
It always irks me somewhat to see patients ask for a discount on items for their conditions of hardship, or a request for temporary credit.
You then usually see such people lighting up a cigarette on the way out of the pharmacy, or on their way to the bakery because they fancy a vanilla slice.
The pharmacy bill, while usually paid, is not an issue of immediacy. I imagine that Woolworths will have a not have a credit policy.

We also have a customer who parks her motorised scooter out the front of our shopping centre entrance every Thursday and holds her hand out with her prescriptions and waits for one of our shop assistants to leave the pharmacy floor to take the prescriptions from her.
What happens next is quite comical.
She gets out of her scooter and walks across the way to the newsagency to buy her powerball ticket, chats briefly with the newsagency owner, walks out and sits in her scooter, waiting for the pharmacist to bring the medications out to her.
Would Woolworths go above and beyond and do the same?

As a pharmacist, my biggest concern is what sort of an impact will Woolworths have on the infrastructure of pharmacy.
Will Woolworths pharmacists have to do 300 prescriptions in a day?
Will restrictions be placed upon how much time a pharmacist may spend counselling patients?
Will Woolworths lobby the respective boards in each state and territory to allow technicians to hand out schedule three medications?

And lets look at the impact on traditional pharmacies.
Front of shop and dispensary lines down massively.
Increases in phone calls from Woolworth customers who "just picked up a prescription from Woolworths but weren't able to talk to the pharmacist, and is unable to get through to them on the phone".
Increases in dosette and webster packs to be done, as they are time laborious and have a low profit margin.

Pharmacy in Australia at present is far from perfect.
While, yes, we do have to make a dollar at the end of the day, greed can be our own worst enemy.
As pharmacists (whether pharmacy owners or not) we must remember to keep the patients best welfare at heart.
We must concentrate on helping our patients achieve the greatest health outcomes and ensure the quality use of medicines.
This is the easiest way to ensure that Woolworths fail in their attempts to branch into pharmacy.
If Woolworths are to match it with us, we must make them do something that they have so far been unable to do: care for the people who are purchasing their wares and place the patients best interests first.

If Woolworths run their pharmacy operation as they run their supermarkets, petrol stations and liquor stores, it would make more sense to allow Ivan Milat to become a Contiki tour guide than it would to allow Woolworths to own and run pharmacies.

Next article in Woolworths series------->