Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Lanny Wong: Mangawhai Pharmacy Director on Government letting pharmacists prescribe funded medicines for common conditions

Transcript

Lanny Wong: Mangawhai Pharmacy Director on Government letting pharmacists prescribe funded medicines for common conditions · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Pharmacists have been given more powers. This is to help
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: take the pressure off GP, so you're able to do
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: more at the pharmacy that you don't need to do
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: with your doctor. They'll be able to hand out more
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: meds over the counter. This is your kid's cold and
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: flu medicine, your antibiotics, treatment for scabies. Even Lanny Wang
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: is director of Lanny Wang forgive me as director of
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: Manga PI Pharmacy, joins me this morning and a good morning.
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: Good morning.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: Is what will this do to a workload for a
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: pharmacy or is it a good part a good problem
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: to have.
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: Yes, there is definitely a good problem to have. Yes,
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: certainly there will be something that will increase our workload. However,
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: in saying that, all the condition that was announced yesterday
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: are things that pharmacy pharmacists already do, so you know,
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: it means it's nothing new for us. It's just business
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: as usual. However, I think we anticipate demand will probably
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: increase if the message get out that people can access
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: the service for free from the pharmacy and access medicine
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: for free, that that will be a huge help for
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: some family.
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: So if I do parents just come to you with
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: their sick kids anyway and say what do I do?
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: Yeah, they actually do, like you know, all the condition
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: that was announced, like you know, pain and fever for children,
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: oral rehydration, fluids, scabies, headline, conjuncti biders, all those things
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: parents already come in. Especially you know, scavy is probably
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: one that's really really handy to be access that in
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: the fancy for example. You know, if if there's a
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: scavy outbreak, it tends to impact a lot of people.
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: Like you know, even if you don't have the condition,
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: you're supposed to treat yourself for it and treat the
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: entire family to make sure you can eradicate the whole thing.
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: So being able to access that conveniently from a pharmacy
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: is actually very helpful for that type of condition because
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: this is.
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: The real changes and that it's not so much that
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: people are coming to you with new things, it's that
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: you'll be able to directly give them the funded medicines.
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: That's absolutely correct. Yeah, you know, like the one that
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: uncomplicated UTI. That's one that's always been a bad bug
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: of mine because you know, I have to charge for
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: my service, not a free service. And over the years,
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: you know, that i've been providing the service, I've had
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: plenty of women cright in front of me because they
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: couldn't afford the fee and things like that. So this
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: will be a real game changer for women, for women's health,
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: and it means they can access this at a funded rate,
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: at what they'll get from a GP. But you know
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: it's a game changer for mom and dad as well.
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: You know a lot of mom and dad do bypass
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: the pharmacy and go straight to GP because they can
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: bring your children to see the GP for free, and
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: then when they get their prescription, they can collect it
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: for free. So all of that can happen in the
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: commune pharmacy. Conjunct dividers is another one. You know, if
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: you've ever been called home by your daycare because your
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: child's got conjunct dividers, you know that's that's another If
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: you can't afford to pay for the medicine, then that's
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: what parents do. They take them to the GP because
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: it's free to see the GP, and then when they
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: get the description is free. You know, the prescription is free.
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: But if you go straight to a pharmacy, that's not
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: the case at the moment.
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: How do you how do you guys make most of
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: your money as it from selling makeup and sunscreen and stuff.
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we we make we make our money from dispensing
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: and yes, all the other products helps. You know, you know,
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: pharmacy is a unique place. We do have the rights
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: to sell medicine. So yeah, if I had to say
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: what we make most of money is that we do.
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: We do sell products and that's how we make money.
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: And that is, I guess, you know, a privilege that
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: all pharmacy have that you know, and that's why you
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: see pharmacy and you know the most remote places of
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: New Zealand like parking a tour you know, like it's
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: it's it's the only way you know, you can get
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: health services to an area, to a rare, remote area
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: that serves the community. Because you know, we we you know,
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: we do. We do realize that we have the privilege
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: to sell products that other people couldn't and you know,
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: in some ways it's a it's a system that you know,
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: allow health service to exist and in places that it's
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: challenging tapers.
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: Lanny Wong Mang of five Farmers, You appreciate your time
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: this morning, and that's why you won't get your Big
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: Himus Weirhouse going, and places like Pie Here tour for.
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: More from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge.
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: Listen live to news talks it'd be from five am weekdays,
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio