BOYANUP General Store owner Joanne Gansberg was last week notified of the cancellation of her licence by the Department of Health.
The General Store is a central landmark of Boyanup that has been successfully run by the Gansberg family for the past decade.
Mrs Gansberg said she was absolutely stunned to receive a letter stating the store no longer qualified to be able to sell Schedule 2 medicines, which include cold and flu tablets, under the Poisons Act of 1964.
“We are open for 13 hours a day, 7 days a week, to help the general public with essential items like medication,” she said. “Whether it’s local people or those passing through, there are times when items like children’s panadol and eye drops may be needed in a hurry. We are talking about S2 medicines which would normally be sold in a pharmacy and not those on the supermarket shelves.”
The letter from the State Government Legislation and Licensing Manager states the store’s valid licence will be cancelled on February 28, 2014 and that no further medicines should be purchased for reselling.
Under the Poisons Act of 1964 licences can be issued in the interests of providing a local community with access to certain medicines normally available from pharmacies. With the opening of a pharmacy at the Boyanup Post office, the Health Department has deemed the licence to be no longer needed.
Mrs Gansberg said she approached the new owners of the Boyanup Pharmacy who are fully supportive of fulfilling community needs with ‘out of hours’ services.
“The two pharmacists have absolutely no objections whatsoever with us selling these S2 items,” She said. “We are open 51 more hours a week than the pharmacy, so they believe we are needed in the town.”
The Shire of Capel’s Health Services Manager Colin Dent said he was also in support of the licence being maintained.
“Look it makes sense that if the pharmacy is closing at 5pm and is not open at weekends, then this is a necessary community service that should continue,” he said. “There is no after hours pharmacy in Capel - and Bunbury is 25km away.”
The petition to object to the cancelling of the Store’s licence had last week reached seven pages of signatures.
