Yarrabah now has no pharmacy service

It appears, according to my reading of the Yarrabah Primary Health Care Centre Indigenous Land Use agreement it "includes" pharmacy services ... I don't know whether this is political speak that it (at the time of the agreement) provided pharmacy services or if there is any obligation to provide pharmacy services.

Whatever the actual obligation, the pharmacy service that was here is now closed.

This means unhappy and angry community members.

This means sub-standard health care, both medical and dental.

Yarrabah has not been approved for Section 100 of the National Health Act so we are reliant on the goodwill of a nearby pharmacy to provide a non-profitable dispensing service to the community.

The eligibility criteria for participation in the program are given below.


Eligibility criteria

. The Health Service must have a primary function of meeting the health care needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
. The clinic, or other health care facility, operated by the AHS from which pharmaceuticals are supplied to patients must be in a remote zone as defined in the Rural, Remote and Metropolitan Areas Classification 1991 Census Edition.
. The AHS must not be a party to an arrangement, such as a coordinated care trial, for which funds from the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme have already been provided.
. The AHS must employ or be in a contractual relationship with health professionals who are suitably qualified under relevant State/Territory legislation to supply all medications covered by the Section 100 arrangements and undertake that all supply of benefit items will be under the direction of such qualified persons.
. The clinic or other health care facility operated by the AHS from which pharmaceuticals are supplied must have storage facilities that will:
- prevent access by unauthorised persons;
- maintain the quality (eg chemical and biological stability and sterility) of the pharmaceutical; and
- comply with any special conditions specified by the manufacturer of the pharmaceutical.

Yarrabah is RRMA 5 (a new classification system is in place, but the Department of Health Section 100 page still refers to RRMA classifications)

The Department of Health and Aging refers to Yarrabah as being "outer regional" incidentally exactly the same as Cairns, the major town about an hour's drive away.

Unless Yarrabah is reclassified it will never gain access to the Section 100 system.

Here's hoping there will be another pharmacy prepared to assist the community and quickly.

Meantime, our "after hours" stock of medications are dwindling fast.