Another PAC has come and gone and those of you who could not attend it have missed an excellent opportunity to discuss issues and 'chew the cud' with your peers and international experts.
While there were some interesting presentations form various experts and academics, for me some of the most interesting times were spent in discussions with my peers and elders as to the 'Woolies question'.
This area of contentious issue to pharmacy seems to have so many variants and ideological issues attached to it that I for one, and I know I was not alone, was totally confused of what official pharmacy's stand is on 'Pharmacies in Supermarkets/Chain Stores'.

One model I heard a young feminine leader describe involved Woolworth's contemplating the inclusion of pharmacies in their service station outlets.
Woolworth's are currently following the successful operation that BP uses of establishing a convenience store within a service station so why not place a pharmacy in their as well.
These satellite service station 'convenience outlets' are quite popular on the major freeway routes between major towns.

There are currently pharmacies incorporating medical centres into their floor space dynamics-will this model be of interest to Woolworth's?
With the major chain retailers like Woolworth's and Coles closing down or selling out to independent chains in rural and small regional chains is this threat of pharmacies in Woolworth's only going to affect the larger metropolitan cities?
How many smaller pharmacies in suburban metropolitan locations are currently great viable businesses?
How many are just making wages and not much more for the owner?
How many owners in these small retail businesses are hoping for 'divine intervention' to give them an opportunity to sell up and receive a decent price for their businesses and not just close and walk away. Woolworth's wanting to buy the approval number of these suburban businesses and use it to establish a pharmacy in a shopping centre or a stand alone 'Woolies Fresh' is probably the answer to their prayers.

Queensland is one of the few states that allows bonded scholarships-will we see new graduates being bonded to Woolworth's franchisees with salary sacrificing portfolios to ensure they become equity partners once they have completed pre-registration.
I have recently received quite a lot of applications from New Zealand graduates wishing to undertake their pre-registration year in Australia.
ALL of these applicants were NOT New Zealanders by birth or citizenship but Asian students who had attended university in NZ.
These students are looking to Australia to undertake their pre-registration year as the New Zealand model of pharmacy deteriorates and also as Australian registration qualifications are well recognized overseas.

If these students can find enough places for their pre-registration year than they would be ideal candidates for a company like Woolworth's to take on to run their pharmacy departments.
They will be young, keen to work hard and reap the rewards and inexperienced enough not to look for the problems ahead with this partnership.
They will not have the bargaining ability or nuance to look for problems like loss of professional practice standards and the ability to be your own master.
Woolworth's are a very professional company and I would never say that they would ask a pharmacist to perform any improper activities.
But, if Woolworth's management says you must meet the target of 300, 000 sales of Sudafed tablets per month as that is their commitment to the manufacturer for the lower net into store price and advertising co-op; how will you ethically and professionally as a 'Woollies pharmacist' handle this directive from above?
Even if Woolworth's is not the wholesaler but the franchisor they will surely have a say in marketing strategies.

What kind of operating hours will they expect of their pharmacies?
What percentage sales to wage ratios will they dictate or will the pharmacist be able to afford to meet the demands of the franchise agreement?

At PAC I heard one American pharmacist state that American independent pharmacies were still doing well even with the large Walgreen's, Pharm-Aid etc as stiff competition.
Her comments were that Australian pharmacy should not feel so threatened by the current moves by Woolworth's, but to view this as another competitor that you must be aware of and be better than. American independent pharmacy has many competitors including Internet and mail order and large chain networks.
But in America, the Walgreen's etc tend to set up as stand alone one stop destination shopping centres. What is a threat in Australia are companies like Woolworth's, who are in the majority of the Nation's large shopping centres, establishing pharmacies within their floor space.
This would be in direct competition to the independent pharmacy that also rents floor space in that large shopping centre.
As everyone is aware there are rules governing where approval numbers will be granted under the governance of Australian Community Pharmacy Authority but what will stop Woolies offering a small tenant pharmacy a 'better' tenancy deal than offered by the shopping centre leasing agent.

Will pharmacies in Woolworth's be able to afford to offer cognitive services like HMR's for very little return on investment-I think not.
Will they be able to set up without a PBS approval number and stay viable?
Again I think not but there are pharmacies operating in Australia today with no PBS approval number and they are still in existence-the more intrepid pharmacist may see this as a model that he/she can manipulate to their advantage.

At the end of the five days that I spent in Sydney and then the subsequent week in Brisbane I cannot say that I know the answers on how to deal with the threat from corporations such as Woolworth's.
As has often been said before is this a threat to community pharmacy or an opportunity to ensure the community has access to pharmacy services?
I still think it is the former but only time will tell-I just would like to hear a bit more cohesion on the issue from our major pharmacy leaders!

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