The Retail Pharmacist's Christmas Survival Guide

Working in retail during the Christmas Silly Season can sap the joy out of even the most hardened Christmas Fanatic.

Some survival tips to get you through...

1. Christmas Shopping Online. What could be a better way than shopping from your lounge chair, laptop gently whirring, glass of SSB in hand and nothing more than little snores from the kids rooms. Give yourself a break, don’t become the sort of customer you hate! And for goodness sakes, don't leave the dreaded task to the last minute.
Consider gift vouchers from other Australian small businesses, think of the ways you could support other retailers like ourselves. Forget the imported trash! Give a local gift.... think day spa, gardening goods, voucher for the local music shop or real life book store. What about a coffee and cake, or an experiential voucher from a local provider. Get the idea? Keep it genuine, keep it thoughtful and most of all... keep it local - because it's the locals that keep your business alive too.

2. Decorate
Avoid Grinchiness at all costs. Coming home from work to an undecorated house might seem comforting at first, but the closer it gets to Christmas, the more humbuggish you’ll end up feeling. What's so wrong with a little more Christmas cheer? You want to feel in the Christmas mood as well, so let yourself feel it. Decorate as vastly differently from the shop as possible. Get un-traditional, use different colours, get creative!
Besides... it's about family. Don't take Christmas away from them just because you're sucked dry.



3. Find Your Own Christmas Music.
For goodness sakes, DO NOT under any circumstances take your favourite Christmas Tunes to the shop... because if there is one thing you can be sure of - you're going to be totally through with them after 3 days of repeat playing. For the shop - Get a selection of cheap Christmas compilations from your local music store, make sure you have upwards of 5 CD's worth of music and put them on shuffle.
Keep the good swoony stuff for home, a bit of romantic cuddling to the dulcet tones of  "Baby, It's Cold Outside" should melt even the most hardened Grinch. Not your scene? Get something different, something fun, something to make you smile (no death metal this year ok?)

4. Get Someone Else to Work Boxing Day
Just take a break already. It's not going to kill you to get someone else to deal with the onslaught of antacid and analgesic sales on Boxing Day morning. If it comes down to the choice of working on Christmas Eve or working on Boxing Day, for the love of God work on Christmas Eve. The store will most likely be dead, except of course for the last minute "if-I-don't-show-up-with-a-present-my-wife/girlfriend-is-going-to-kill-me" types. Nothing like these sad and sorry folk to make you feel so much better about the fact that you got your shopping done 2 weeks ago on-line!
Let Boxing Day be your second Christmas. Sleep in. Enjoy life. Digest.

5. Invent In-Store Fun
Have some in-store fun with the staff. Have a competition for who can wrap an uneven, un-box-shaped gift the fastest (and neatest). Vote for the most detested Christmas tune. Who can sell the most condom/analgesic combinations? Up-sell hangover cures! Have a giggle, it's infectious. The customers don't need to know what you're having fun about - just HAVE FUN! 

And when it's all over... RELAX. Enjoy the time with your family, be thankful for what you have and laugh.

Statement from The Pharmacy Guild of Australia WA Branch (PGAWA) and the Pharmaceutical Society of Western Australia (PSWA) Senate Enquiry into the 5th Community Pharmacy Agreement

The peak bodies representing West Australian Community Pharmacy make the following joint statement in reference to the proposed review of the 5^th Pharmacy Agreement.

The West Australian Pharmacy community is surprised and disappointed with the call for a review of the 5^th Pharmacy Agreement.  The proposal is too early in the life of the 5^th  Agreement and should be rejected.

The 5th Community Pharmacy Agreement was negotiated in good faith and signed off in accordance with the principles laid down within the government’s legislative framework.  The agreement guarantees public access for all Australians to 3,200 items on the PBS at a known price in a timely manner no matter where they live.  

We also note and commend the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) and the National Pharmacy Students Association (NAPSA) who have both expressed their concern that the proposed review will produce little public benefit.

We are unaware of any justifiable grounds on which the parliament could approve investing time, money and resources into a review which in our collective view:

·       Is far too early in an Agreement to realise any useful results. Many programs have been running for less than a year and no useable data is yet available.

·       Will cause instability in an already fragile small business environment as community pharmacists delay or defer decisions awaiting any outcomes of a review.

·       Will freeze investment into new programs and subsequent employment of pharmacists at a time when there is pressure to provide more services, and employ more graduates.

·       Ministers and governments have been committed to the community pharmacy model over two decades resulting in a scheme which is the envy of many counties such as USA, Ireland and South Africa. 

·       Will force community pharmacy into a further period of destabilization after a decade of review after review. Community pharmacy is just starting to build  further potential to deliver  even greater health outcomes for the community

·       Destabilises the Public Private Partnership where the owners of community pharmacy provide the Government with the infrastructure to deliver the PBS and programs designed to improve health of the community.

·       Would take time and resources which would be better utilised elsewhere.

We call on the parliament to listen to the overwhelming view of Community Pharmacists who are responsible for actual delivery of professional standards, clinical practice and service and the current community pharmacy model to ensure equitable access to every medicine on the PBS to all Australians no matter where they live every day.

It is our collective view that this proposed review is not justifiable and wastes precious financial and human resources.  It will delay the process of the government and community  pharmacy to work together to advance the health of all Australians.

We call on the parliament to reject this proposal on the grounds it cannot provide useful public benefit, and being so early in the current agreement will serve little purpose.

Lenette Mullen                                               John Harvey

President                                                        President

Pharmacy Guild of Australia                         Pharmaceutical Society of Western Australia

WA Branch      

MedCheck CPD Quick MediFacts

November 25, 2011 (London, United Kingdom) —

The UK's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE):

·       Recommended NHS reimbursement for the use of apixaban (Eliquis, Bristol-Myers Squibb/Pfizer) in adults who have undergone planned total hip or total knee replacement surgery ^1,2 as an option for the prevention of venous thromboembolism (VTE).

·       The committee concluded that apixaban was more clinically effective and less expensive than enoxaparin (Lovenox, Sanofi Aventis).

·       It further concluded that there was insufficient clinical evidence to determine whether or not apixaban was more or less clinically effective than rivaroxaban (Xarelto, Bayer/Johnson & Johnson) and dabigatran (Pradaxa, Boehringer Ingelheim).

References

1. National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. NICE fast-tracks appraisal of drug to prevent blood clots after hip and knee surgery [press release]. November 24, 2011. Available here.
2. National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. NICE final appraisal determination. Apixaban for the prevention of venous thromboembolism after total hip or knee replacement in adults. November 2011. Available here.

Chrismas and New Year Trading Hours - Department of Commerce WA

Note: This excerpt is as it appears on the West Australian Government's Department of Commerce information page 

Full link

Christmas/New Year retail trading hours 2011/2012 Metropolitan area

Date	Trading Hours
Sunday 4 December 2011	11.00am to 5.00pm (Precincts only)
Monday 5 December 2011	8.00am to 9.00pm
Tuesday 6 December 2011	8.00am to 9.00pm
Wednesday 7 December 2011	8.00am to 9.00pm
Thursday 8 December 2011	8.00am to 9.00pm
Friday 9 December 2011	8.00am to 9.00pm
Saturday 10 December 2011	8.00am to 5.00pm
Sunday 11 December 2011	10.00am to 5.00pm
Monday 12 December 2011	8.00am to 9.00pm
Tuesday 13 December 2011	8.00am to 9.00pm
Wednesday 14 December 2011	8.00am to 9.00pm
Thursday 15 December 2011	8.00am to 9.00pm
Friday 16 December 2011	8.00am to 9.00pm
Saturday 17 December 2011	8.00am to 5.00pm
Sunday 18 December 2011	10.00am to 5.00pm
Monday 19 December 2011	8.00am to 9.00pm
Tuesday 20 December 2011	8.00am to 9.00pm
Wednesday 21 December 2011	8.00am to 9.00pm
Thursday 22 December 2011	8.00am to 9.00pm
Friday 23 December 2011	8.00am to 9.00pm
Saturday 24 December 2011	8.00am to 5.00pm
Sunday 25 December 2011 (public holiday)	CLOSED
Monday 26 December 2011 (public holiday)	10.00am to 5.00pm
Tuesday 27 December 2011 (public holiday)	8.00am to 5.00pm
Wednesday 28 December 2011	8.00am to 9.00pm
Thursday 29 December 2011	8.00am to 9.00pm
Friday 30 December 2011	8.00am to 9.00pm
Saturday 31 December 2011	8.00am to 5.00pm
Sunday 1 January 2012 (public holiday)	10.00am to 5.00pm (Precincts only)
Monday 2 January 2012 (public holiday)	8.00am to 5.00pm (Precincts only)

Further information

Shops that have applied for a Small or Special Retail Shop Certificate can trade each day of the year. Small shops can trade 24 hours a day if they choose, while special shops can trade from 6.00am to 11.30pm each day of the year.
A small shop is one owned by up to six people who operate no more than three retail shops and in which no more than 18 people work at any one time. There are no restrictions on the type of goods small shops can sell. Special retail shops are those selling emergency, convenience or recreational items and include pharmacies, garden nurseries, video shops, hardware stores and newsagencies.
Trading arrangements in regional areas are subject to local arrangements.

APESMA PROPOSES NEW TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR SENATE INQUIRY INTO PHARMACY

Tuesday, 29 November 2011

APESMA today proposed a new Terms of Reference for a Senate Inquiry into pharmacy which focuses on new potential benefits to the pharmacy profession including providing a role for pharmacists in medicare locals and GP clinics and new measures to reform the health care system.

Mr Walton said despite incorrect and mischievous claims by the Pharmacy Guild there was nothing in the Senate Inquiry before the Senate that would cause the current Community Pharmacy Agreement to cease.

“A Senate Inquiry is the best way to review the current arrangements and make sure that we deliver a better system for patients and pharmacists – not just the pharmacy owners’ guild,” Mr Walton said.

“However we need to get the Terms of Reference right so that we get all the benefits of such a review.

“The Pharmacy Guild is frightened of an Inquiry because it fears that their bullying tactics and grubby deals will be exposed to the public. Clearly the Guild is trying to kill off any kind of inquiry by bullying the PSA and NAPSA into dropping their support for it.

“But it is standard practise and good governance to review major funding agreements to make sure future arrangements are better.”

Mr Walton said that page 33 of the Senate Notice paper had published the original terms of reference of the proposed Senate Inquiry and there were no indications that the fifth agreement could be terminated.

http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/work/notice/snpf_071.pdf

See overleaf for a new terms of reference supported by APESMA.

“If we don’t review this agreement we cannot expect better outcomes for patients and for pharmacy professionals in the future,” Mr Walton said.

“APESMA wants better pharmacy careers, better wages and conditions and a better opportunity for pharmacists to use their knowledge and skills.

“Innovation in pharmacy can occur now. The Community Pharmacy Agreement does not need to change to allow pharmacists to work in medicare locals, for example.”

Media Release courtesy of APESMA

Medicines industry a key player in post-mining boom economy - Medicines Australia

2nd November 2011

The medicines industry will offer Australia significant strategic and economic advantages in a post-mining boom future, Medicines Australia chief executive Dr Brendan Shaw told the National Press Club today.
Dr Shaw said that with the right policy settings to encourage innovation, research and manufacturing the medicines industry could capitalise on its advantages.

“At a time when Australia is debating the future of manufacturing in this country, we have, right under our noses, an industry that already delivers so much to the community and economy through jobs, skills, wages, exports and R&D,” Dr Shaw said.

“It is an industry that has an excellent industrial relations record and generates good exports, foreign investment, high-skill, high wage-jobs and some of the best scientific minds in the world.

“It is an industry that has a low carbon footprint for the economic growth it generates.

“It is a perfect industry for a country that is trying to develop a smart, high-wage, high-skill, innovative, low carbon economy.

“If we are serious about building on the industrial capability we already have in this country, we should be backing Australia’s medicines industry and encouraging it to reach its potential.

“We have the people, the skills, the ideas, the research, the infrastructure, the companies, the history and the critical mass to take the next steps and make Australia a key niche player in the global medicines industry.”
However, Dr Shaw warned that the medicines industry in Australia was under challenge, and needed supportive policy settings.

“After much growth through the1990s and first half of the 2000s, exports have stalled at $4 billion a year and R&D has plateaued at $1 billion a year,” Dr Shaw said.

“Incredibly, while the rest of the world is seeing growth in the number of clinical trials being performed to test new medicines, the number of new trials in Australia has fallen for the last three years by an average of 13 per cent a year. That’s not sustainable.

“We can develop this industry even further into one of the key Australian high-tech industries to help set up a post mining-boom future. But we need the right policies.”

The full text of Dr Shaw’s address to the National Press Club is available here

Is excessive profit making destroying our reputation? - APESMA

A local pharmacy used to be part of the community infrastructure where local residents could get independent and expert advice about their ailments and how best to treat them. And the person behind the counter used to be a respected and important part of that community.

Unfortunately the business interests in Australian pharmacies have been driven too far and the community is now getting sceptical of the advice given to them.

Revelations in the recent months that the Pharmacy Guild had put in place schemes to generate profits for Blackmores and Pfizer are just the start of this worrying trend. The new computer software being rolled out by the Pharmacy Guild has been designed to prompt the pharmacist to upsell some vitamin pills or sign them up to a drug company's email list. These computer add-ins are designed to subtly influence that decision making process of the pharmacist.

The public expects pharmacists to provide independent information and their medications and health conditions. Indeed, the Australian government would expect no less. The Strategy of the Quality Use of Medicines, an arm of the National Medicines Policy seeks the support of health professionals to ensure the provision of information to the public derived from accurate, evidence based independent sources. Pharmacists are expected to support this strategy, and indeed, are trained in this process.  

The Guild’s “initiatives” simply fly in the face of the aims of QUM and should be simply ignored by pharmacists.   Further, the profession’s own ethical standards require pharmacists to act in the best interests of the patient at all times.

One wonders how much these companies have paid the Guild or its subsidiary Healthlinks for access to their computer platforms.

The Guild negotiated away a large amount of income at the table at 5CPA.  In its endeavour to get some of that money back for its members, it is overstepping the boundaries by going down this road.

It really is time to consider if this is the direction we want the pharmacy profession to go in.

Do we want our pharmacists to end up being known as a salesperson for the major pharmaceuticals or do we want them respected for the medical advice they provide?

Do we want them to merely help generate profits for the pharmacy owners or do we want them to help our ageing population deal with increasingly complex medical problems?

Do we want them to be proud of their career or secretly ashamed of it?

While APESMA has worked hard to expose the murky deals being set up by the Pharmacy Guild we need more pharmacists to get on board and help develop a new future for the pharmacy profession.

That’s why we are asking all pharmacists to join APESMA so we can stand up for a better future for all pharmacists and provide a thoughtful balance to those that seek to merely capitalise on the profession and its long established and well deserved reputation.

Geoff March

President

Pharmacy Division APESMA