Pharmacists could ask the Department of Health to reopen negotiations on their contract following supply shortages triggered by the pound’s low value.
The pharmaceutical services negotiating committee’s head of information services, Lindsay McClure, told HSJ the shortages were an ongoing problem. She said: “It is causing a lot more work for pharmacists to prevent patients experiencing delays in getting their drugs.”
The extra workload stems from the quotas pharmaceutical companies have imposed on certain drugs, which limit the quantities each pharmacist is able to order.
The list of affected drugs has been growing since autumn 2008 and includes the anti-psychotic Zyprexa and the contraceptive pill Cerazette.
Parallel imports
The companies have designed the quota system as they suspect traders - and even individual pharmacists - may be trying to exploit the low value of the pound by buying up pharmaceuticals produced and priced for the UK market and re-selling them elsewhere in Europe.
Until recently, the UK was a beneficiary of such parallel imports as wholesalers typically brought up drugs in low cost countries such as Greece and Spain and resold them at a discount to UK pharmacists - much to the annoyance of manufacturers.
The system means that pharmacists need to resort to special pleading with manufacturers if they go over their quota, resulting in extra work and at times delays for patients.
Ms McClure said: “We are working on some research to look at the financial impact [on pharmacists]. It is causing increased workload and we will be discussing that with the DH.”
The pharmacy contract was worth around £2.2bn. Factored into that was £500m profit from drug sales. But if the PSNC can prove a combination of the quota system and loss of cheap imports has reduced that, it will seek to recoup any loses from the DH
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