The Guild salutes Mr Bill Scott

The Pharmacy Guild of Australia acknowledges the tremendous contribution to community pharmacy of Mr Bill Scott, who has today stepped down as Chairman of GuildLink Proprietary Limited.

Under Bill Scott, GuildLink has grown to become an industry leader in IT facilitated health programs delivered through community pharmacy.

The National President of the Guild, Kos Sclavos, said: “Bill Scott has made an outstanding contribution to the Guild and Guild family companies. Not only did Bill lead the negotiations on two Guild-Government Agreements, he also played a key role in the growth and development both GuildLink and the pharmacy software company Fred IT Group.

Mr Scott will also step down from the chairmanship of Fred IT Group, but will continue to represent the Guild on the board of Fred as the company moves forward following the recent significant investment in the company by Telstra Health.

Bill Scott chaired GuildLink, formerly known as healthlinks.net, from the time of the Guild’s purchase of the company in October 2004. He has overseen the transition of the company from a facilitator of Consumer Medicines Information (CMI) leaflets, to a developer and distributor of national systemised patient support programs via its GuildCare platform.

The CEO of GuildLink, Ross Gallagher, said: “In a very real way, these GuildCare programs are making a contribution every day towards better patient health outcomes delivered by community pharmacies all over Australia. This is a tribute to Bill’s foresight and leadership of the company.”

Mr Scott said: “GuildLink has managed to improve and expand CMIs, making them available in large print format, as well as synthetic audio and Braille. This was a world leading development. I have enjoyed my time with both GuildLink and Fred IT, both of which have provided a phenomenal opportunity to be part of the development of innovations that have enhanced the delivery of health care for consumers.”

Kos Sclavos said: “Bill has been a contributor to the Guild for decades at a senior level, showing extraordinary commitment and generosity with his time. A measure of the depth of his strategic knowledge and expertise in the industry has been his absolute determination to ensure pharmacists adopt essential IT systems to record their clinical work.”