Roy Heather: Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Bill — In Committee 
Roy Heather: Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:611;Page:8176] 
HEATHER ROY (ACT NZ) 
: 
 I rise to speak to Part 9 “Amendments to Medicines Act 1981”. I would like to address my Supplementary Order Paper 98 which seeks to make an addition to clause 254. Basically as Lynda Scott mentioned previously it seeks to prevent the Government—district health boards and primary health organisations—from coming in and taking over pharmacies throughout the country and turning pharmacists into State employees. 
This Supplementary Order Paper is indicative of a growing problem within the health sector. It is the Government’s intention to nationalise or socialise the health sector and we are seeing it with the primary health organisations. They are umbrella organisations that are being set up around the country. General practitioners are certainly being encouraged to join them and the incentive is there to do so because if they do not then they miss out on cheaper health-care for their patients. The intention is for health care eventually to take this form everywhere in the country and for general practitioners no longer to own their practices. The Minister of Health has made no secret of the fact that she wants pharmacies to be part of public health organisations. She has made very encouraging noises and wants pharmacists to participate. As yet very few have. I think only a handful of pharmacists have gone in with primary health organisations but the Minister has certainly made her intention well known. 
It is a shame that the Minister does in fact have such contempt for the health professions. As I mentioned previously the Minister’s comments on the front page of  
Pharmacy Today 
 a few weeks back were very revealing. She said that pharmacists are not real health professionals because they have diversified; that they sell gifts sell cameras and develop photographs and that means they are not committed to providing health services for the community. Anybody who has had any dealings with pharmacies or regularly attends pharmacies of course would not agree with that at all. My Supplementary Order Paper is to prevent the Government from coming in and taking over pharmacies and in fact turning pharmacists into State employees. 
The pharmacists have been under siege of late and have been subject to concerted attacks on several fronts. It is no wonder that we see a shortage of pharmacists in this country. Like other health professionals they are heading overseas to greener pastures where working conditions are better where ownership is better and where they can certainly earn a lot more money. In this country we are seeing the socialisation of health services. Certainly one is encouraged to be part of a group rather than to own one’s own business. Small business is the backbone of this country and should be encouraged. Owner-operators particularly have provided a great deal to the economy of this country and my fear is that the pharmacists will join those groups that are being really discriminated against because of increasing compliance costs more and more difficulties in owning one’s own business red tape and all those things that make it very difficult to make one’s own living. My Supplementary Order Paper seeks to address that.