July 2021

This month, I’ve been busy delving into the workings of the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal and how and when it grants name suppression to erring practitioners (read the story on page 16)

Whangārei pharmacy owners are disappointed Northland DHB is refusing to release reasons behind a decision to grant a contract for a new Chemist Warehouse in the city

The pharmacy National Annual Agreement Review group is discussing the future of the two big reviews into pharmacy funding, given the uncertainty created by the Government’s health sector reforms

It’s all systems go at east Auckland’s Unichem Pakuranga Pharmacy, which has become the first community pharmacy in Tāmaki Makaurau - Auckland to offer in-house vaccinations for its community against COVID-19

Wellington pharmacy vaccination teams have proved their worth by completing the “huge” undertaking of protecting every resthome in the Capital & Coast and Hutt Valley DHB areas against COVID-19

Two Pharmacy Council board members and two staff members have resigned suddenly for reasons that have not yet been made public

Pharmac has found replacements for most of the drugs affected by the generic medicines supplier Apotex leaving New Zealand later this year, but one remains a concern for some patients with epilepsy

The health IT firm ReCare is poised to trial a MediCard that will give patients access to their full medical record which can then be shared with any health professional

The leaders presiding over the reform of the New Zealand health system say pharmacy will play an important part in the new set-up but to date, details on what this might look like are scant

The Pharmacy Council has returned around half a million dollars in relief funding to the Ministry of Health after it failed to find a home for it within the sector