|
|
|
|
||
|
||
|
|
||
| SEARCH | SUBSCRIBE | ||
Want to support Global Action on Aging? Click below: Thanks!
|
 |
New Zealand:
Elderly Not Keen on Prescription Plan
By
Kathryn Oats
June 3, 2003
Pharmacist Dave Wilson shows what three months of medication _ commonly used by the elderly _ for one of his clients looks like. The client has asthma and diabetes, with heart complications. New Zealand - The elderly would be most affected by the change in the dispensing scheme, Taranaki Pharmacy Group secretary Dave Wilson said. Government
drug-buying agency Pharmac wants to reintroduce three-monthly
prescriptions instead of pharmacists issuing them monthly. The
move would save district health boards $35 million in dispensing fees,
according to Pharmac chief executive Wayne McNee. The
last day for submissions on the Pharmac proposal is tomorrow. Lobby
group for the elderly Age Concern Taranaki said people would make mistakes
when taking their medication because they would have too much to manage. Mr
McNee said Pharmac was still considering the evidence about that issue. The
medication of elderly people changed often, Age Concern's submission said.
That would be a problem under the new prescribing scheme because they
might have to change their medicines before three months, leaving them
with excess medication in their homes and therefore increasing the risk of
taking the wrong medication. Mr
McNee said that if the new scheme went ahead, it could allow for shorter
prescription periods when a person started a new medication. Age
Concern was also worried that the elderly could become targets for
criminals seeking drugs. But
Mr McNee said drugs which were likely to be sought by criminals would not
be issued three-monthly. Paying
for three months' worth of medication at once was also a hardship, the
lobby group said. Transportation
and storage of large bottles of liquid medications was also an issue. Pharmacist
Dave Wilson said he would not be able to afford to issue the easy-to-use
dispensing packs for the elderly for free under the new dispensing scheme
– he would have to pass on costs to customers, who often could not
afford to pay extra, Mr Wilson said. The
extra costs, coupled with the potential for confusion with medication,
went against Government policy to maintain the elderly's independence for
as long as possible in their own homes rather than living in rest homes,
he said. Pharmacists
are strongly opposed to the Pharmac proposal, which, they say, could
result in the closure of rural pharmacies as income dropped. The sale of a Hawera pharmacy was put on hold because the buyer could not get his bank loan guaranteed. This was believed to be because the Pharmac proposal created too much uncertaintly about the pharmacy's future. Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging
|
