Health Minister Mark Butler’s announcement that negotiations for the 8th Community Pharmacy Agreement (8CPA) will start as soon as possible and conclude by 30 Jun next year (PD yesterday) has been hailed by the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA). Fei Sim, PSA National President (pictured), said it was vital to secure the short-term viability of the community pharmacy sector, particularly in light of the huge changes taking place such as 60-day dispensing. “PSA looks forward to working with the Government and the Pharmacy Guild to drive better and safer access to medicines for Australians,” she said. “We need to do more to reduce the preventable harm medicines are causing in Australia…up to half of the 250,000 hospital admissions per year in Australia due to medicine-related problems are preventable,” Sim added. Key priorities for the PSA include enabling pharmacists to practice to their full scope, with Sim urging that the agreement should deliver better access to care “by cementing the core role of pharmacists as the stewards for safe and effective use of medicines”. She said PSA was committed to working constructively and collaboratively during the negotiations to deliver outcomes including “better ways for pharmacists to show the impact of the care they provide”. Sim noted that the PSA would seek to drive “evaluation measures” in 8CPA programs to help show how pharmacists play a key role every day in supporting safer and more effective use of medicines. The PSA President also urged a closer alignment between the 8CPA and the 01 Sep commencement of 60-day dispensing, saying “pharmacists need certainty now that the care they provide will remain viable in the short term”. “As a profession, pharmacists can do more and want to do more, but we cannot keep doing more with less,” she concluded.