Pharmacy

MDL has undertaken a substantial body of work for the New Zealand Pharmacy Guild as part of the Guild's ongoing strategy of positioning community pharmacy as an essential component of New Zealand's primary healthcare system, strongly committed to providing a professional healthcare service, and well placed to improve both the efficiency and cost effectiveness of primary health care. In the absence, by and large, of substantive research on the role of community pharmacy in New Zealand, this work has drawn substantially on published research from Europe, especially the United Kingdom, and North America.

Purchasing Primary Health Care Outcomes 2007
This project was undertaken jointly with public law firm Russell McVeagh. It complements the Pharmacy Guild of New Zealand's paper on the New Zealand National Medicines Strategy Review, emphasising the role community pharmacists can play in helping ensure the better use and management of medications in a community environment.

National Medicines Strategy Review April 2007
Paper
A submission by the Pharmacy Guild of New Zealand (Inc) to the National Medicines Strategy Review, substantially prepared by MDL as part of work on repositioning the role of community pharmacy.

Rationing Pharmaceuticals June 2006
Report
A report prepared for the Pharmacy Guild of New Zealand, focusing on the role of community pharmacy in improving the utilisation of health sector resources.

Pharmacy Ownership 2005
Pharmacy ownership is a contentious issue both in New Zealand and internationally with pharmacists arguing that majority pharmacist control of retail pharmacies is an essential underpinning of a quality professional service, and others, especially interests representing major supermarket chains, arguing that Pharmacy is just another retail service which should be open to all comers. This paper sets out the public policy arguments in support of continuing pharmacist control.