Under the new move, which is expected to apply from June, community pharmacies will be able to provide funded medicines for pain and fever management, oral rehydration, common conditions such as scabies, head lice and conjunctivitis, and ‘‘uncomplicated’’ urinary tract infections. Their role in the provision of emergency contraception will also be extended.
For some years pharmacists have promoted themselves as the health professional we see most often, with an estimated 1.8 million of us visiting a community pharmacy each month.
The profession has also long fought for better understanding of its diverse abilities, including early treatment of common conditions and the role it could play in reducing medicine wastage.
However, while families who may have had to pay over-the-counter prices for items such as head lice shampoos will be pleased that will reduce to a prescription charge, not everybody is thrilled with the new proposals.
Since part of the reason for the changes is the delays for some in getting an appointment with a general practitioner, general practice advocacy group GenPro has suggested the $5 million allocated would be better spent on helping to address the GP workforce shortage.
The group warns of the risk of misdiagnosis because not all conditions which might be covered by the new proposal would be clear-cut and, without the input of a general practitioner, underlying conditions might be missed.
Doctors have also warned of the need to be particularly cautious when dealing with pain and fever management in children.
Pharmac consultation on the proposed changes is open until the end of this month
If the changes go ahead as planned, or even with some minor modifications, they may do little for the elephant in the room, the demise of the community pharmacy as big-box retailers become more prevalent.
Some in the sector suggest the number of community pharmacies which have closed since 2020 is approaching 100.
At the same time the number of pharmacies is declining, their work has been increasing, with patient numbers estimated to have gone up by more than 113,000 in the three years to September 2025.
In the last three years, at least 22 community pharmacies have closed, something Associate Minister of Health David Seymour says is too many, and a huge loss for communities, but it is hard to see current government policies arresting this decline.
Mr Seymour says often people living in rural and remote areas or communities with higher health needs find it difficult to get timely GP appointments.
This new approach is designed to help them, but these same areas are also more likely to have poorer access to pharmacies or pharmacies which are struggling to survive.
We are not hearing any plans from the government for an overhaul of the funding model which pharmacies say is not working, particularly for small businesses.
Relying on retail sales, while it may well work for big-box retailers in urban areas which are able to carry a huge amount of stock and can make enough money to waive prescription charges, it is not realistic for small operators with limited customers in low socio-economic communities.
The previous government’s universal free prescription policy went some way to help smaller players.
The move towards 12-month prescriptions for some medications from February this year drew criticism from the pharmacy sector because it considered there was insufficient detail about how dispensing services would be properly reimbursed for the extra work involved.
Unfunded services provided by pharmacists have long been an issue for the sector. A University of Otago study in 2021 estimated work not paid for made up between 15 and 50% of a pharmacist’s daily work.
So, while recognition of the diverse skills of pharmacists is to be applauded, it needs to go hand in hand with adequate funding and ensuring equitable access to their services.
