Page 13 - rp-may-2020

NEWS IN FOCUS
11
RET AIL PHARMA C Y • MA Y 2020
Gerard Stevens, Managing Director
and founder, Webstercare.
Like many Australians my age, I’ve been in
lockdown for the past three weeks. But it
wasn’t my idea.
My family overruled me. I wanted to
maintain a lifelong routine of going to work
each day. But I relented and am, in hindsight,
very grateful for the love that motivated their insistence.
It helped me realise that at the heart of our response to
this crisis is the love generated by family and, more broadly,
the communities which we live in, serve and support.
This is this same motivation that drives pharmacists, and all
health professionals, to keep turning up every day in the face
of the invisible danger that is COVID-19. It fuels their sense of
responsibility and obligation to their communities.
Even incidents of verbal abuse and physical violence haven’t
deterred their dedication to the cause. These simply get
drowned out by the very large majority of customers and their
flood of heart-warming support and appreciation.
Despite my lockdown, l’ve been given the tools to ensure
I’m still leading the overall management of the company.
It’s not ideal. In fact, I’m working harder than ever, but there
are advantages in building a family-owned business. My sons
Matthew, Ian and Peter, who conspired to keep me and my
wife Ethe out of harm’s way, have taken responsibility for the
day-to-day running of the business.
They, along with my wonderfully committed staff,
are shouldering the responsibility of implementing an
organisational restructure and overcoming the many barriers
to business as usual. It means that we have the means
and capability to maintain our flow of support to Australian
pharmacists in their crucial quest at the dangerous and
stressful frontline of our society’s health defences.
If ever there was a time to acknowledge that pharmacists are
far more than simple functionaries at the end of a supply chain,
it’s now. Australians will rely on its community pharmacists now
more than ever to support their primary healthcare needs.
When we have the luxury of time to reflect – when we’ve
vanquished the silent enemy – we must come together as
a profession and assert this absolute truth.
Like a three-legged table, our primary healthcare system
would fall over without our wonderful pharmacists supporting
our wonderful doctors and nurses as that third leg.
Brett Barons, CEO, Symbion.
The past few months have challenged all
of us in the pharmacy industry like never
before. From dealing with a national bushfire
emergency at the tail-end of 2019 and
through January this year, to the global
pandemic we now face as an industry and
as individuals, we’ve been called upon by
our local communities and federal and state
governments to step up in Australia’s time of great need.
While these challenges are not yet behind us and there
remains much work still to be done, I’ve witnessed incredible
resilience from everyone in the industry and an unwavering
commitment to continuing to deliver affordable and accessible
healthcare in the face of significant adversity.
To pharmacists across Australia: the challenges you’ve faced
and continue to face cannot be understated. The increased
community demand has placed unparalleled pressure on the
supply chain and on you as healthcare professionals on the
frontline. This isn’t normal demand, and despite being faced
with panicked customers and anxious consumers, you’ve risen
to the challenge, leading by example and demonstrating the
value of Australia’s community pharmacy model and the value
you bring as healthcare professionals.
To our customers in particular: I want to thank you for your
continued support, patience and understanding. We know
these have been trying times and we’re doing our best.
Our distribution centres and the staff that support them have
been working 24 hours a day to try and meet demand and
make sure the essential medicines your customers rely on
make it to your pharmacy.
I’d also like to thank our supplier partners for the flexibility
and partnership approach they’ve displayed during this period.
It’s been greatly appreciated.
We still have a long way to go, but we’ll get through to the
finish line together. I wish everyone in the industry continued
good health. Stay safe and know we’ll do all we can to support
you and your patients.
Anish Patel, General Manager
ANZ, GSK Consumer Healthcare.
We’re extremely proud of how our
industry has been able to mobilise
and collaborate to support Australians
during this time. It’s certainly been a
challenging time and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank
all the pharmacists and pharmacy assistants on the frontline
tirelessly supporting their communities.
Since the outbreak, we’ve been actively exploring ways to
help, with our science and expertise, alongside protecting the
health and wellbeing of our people and managing our global
supply chains to support patients and consumers who depend
on our products.
We’re aware that there’s currently extremely high demand
for Panadol, resulting in some stores and pharmacies being
temporarily out of stock. We’ve established supply chains in
place for our products and continue to work hard to restore
stock levels quickly, reviewing several measures to ensure
continuity of supply for our products, including increased
local production.
We’re very pleased that we’ve been able to extend the
operation of our Sydney factory to increase local production
in response to the current situation. This will help ensure
our customers and consumers continue to have access to
Panadol products.
“If ever there was a time to acknowledge
that pharmacists are far more than simple
functionaries at the end of a supply chain,
it’s now.”
TO PAGE 12
“While these challenges are not yet behind
us and there remains much work still to be
done, I’ve witnessed incredible resilience
from everyone in the industry.”