Rising drug supply and pricing issues highlight deeper challenges
Daily Mail
In response to the increasing number of drug supply and pricing issues – including most recently, the challenges surrounding atorvastatin, we shared the following comment with the Daily Mail.
Our Drug Tariff and Reimbursement Manager, Suraj Shah, said:
“The growing number of drug supply and pricing issues tells us that there is something fundamentally wrong with the medicines supply chain and price-setting mechanisms. The reimbursement prices set by the Department of Health and Social Care are based on lagged data and each month we have to request revised prices (known as price concessions) to better reflect the actual market prices pharmacies are having to pay for many medicines. However, the price concession system itself is flawed and we are pushing the Government to make sure that pharmacies are paid fairly for the medicines they supply against NHS prescriptions.
“Whilst this is an extremely difficult financial situation for pharmacies, patients are understandably worried for their health if there’s a delay in getting their medicines. Pharmacy teams will always strive to do everything they can to ensure that people get the medicines they need in a timely manner, spending hours hunting down limited stock and paying inflated costs without knowing if they will be reimbursed appropriately.”
Coverage
