CHEMIST Warehouse would set up shop in a “heartbeat” if it wasn’t effectively barred from the city.
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Founder of the national discount chain, Damien Gance, said “archaic” pharmacy location rules had made Wagga a blackout zone for new pharmacy operations.
“We have no capacity (to open a store in Wagga),” a frustrated Mr Gance said.
“The pharmacy industry is a closed shop, (you can only open a new store) if you acquire an existing pharmacy.”
Current pharmacy relocation rules mean the owner of an existing pharmacy, that has been in that location for five years or more, can move the pharmacy within a one kilometre radius.
Pharmacy Guild NSW branch director Steven Waller denied these rules were archaic, instead calling them necessary measures created to ensure pharmacies were able to live up to their duty of care.
Mr Gance said the rules made it extremely difficult for Chemist Warehouse, or new business entrants, to enter markets in regional towns – something he said prevented country dwellers from getting the best deals.
“In a rural town there are usually three to 10 pharmacies owned by two to three peopled who very rarely sell.
Mr Waller said 87 per cent of Australians had access to a pharmacy within 2.6 kilometres of their home, meaning there was adequate “equity of access”.
Cincotta Discount Chemist pharmacist Sunny Singh does “absolutely not” support changes to the pharmacy location rules.
“Wagga needs to have the location rules due the fact that if you don’t, you will lose all (other) pharmacies.”
When asked if allowing a Chemist Warehouse into the town would close all other pharmacies down Mr Singh said “that is correct”.
Mr Singh said pharmacies provided a medical service that did not need to be undermined by cheap retail prices. Pharmacies provided the only place people could receive a free medical opinion, Mr Singh said.
“We are not a butcher and we should not be compared with that type of service. It’s only place people don’t need to spend money to get a medical opinion.”
Mr Waller said anybody could open a pharmacy, with the location rules only impacting those who wanted to be able to sell pharmaceutical benefit scheme drugs.
“In Wagga there are 14 pharmacies, so divided by the population there is one pharmacy per 3,500 people.
“We believe a different level of care is orchestrated when pharmacists own pharmacies,” Mr Waller said.
“(Pharmacists) need to care, corporates primary responsibility is shareholders.”