I miss my old neighbourhood chemist. Don’t think she’ll ever be back

July 15, 2026 — 5:00am

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Do we genuinely think anyone from the Grattan Institute has ever been in a supermarket? Its latest report – Future pharmacy: A better deal for patients and taxpayers – says our much-loved community pharmacy model is on the nose because, allegedly, it can’t deliver drugs at down, down prices. Whatever down, down might really mean.

So, no thanks. While I’d love cheaper medicines, I definitely don’t want my community pharmacy to turn into a supermarket – or even to be located in one. That’s exactly where Grattan wants them to head. I get that we all want cheaper, faster, looser. But what we would lose is far greater.

My formerly independent local pharmacy was a beauty. The pharmacists and staff knew everyone by name, and ailment. They knew all your kids and their foibles. They’d ask if you’d had a flu shot yet. I remember being sick as a dog before I had to give a talk, and Tina, one of the small contingent of regular pharmacists, knew exactly what I needed to protect my voice and also stop sounding as if I was talking under a puddle of snot. Honestly, super-competent and super-warm. Big brain and big heart. You have to be smart with a heart to be a good pharmacist.

Then my local was taken over by a chain. I was suddenly beset by staff members wanting to sign me up to receive shoddy discounts and worse “newsletters” (no actual........

© The Age