“Pharmacies across the UK wasting a total of 2.5 million hours a year chasing out-of-stock drugs is not what I would call a smooth operation” – Gemma Collins (C+D News Editor) , when asked about UK pharmacy supplies.
The lack of UK pharmacy supplies has hampered the smooth functioning of the UK’s pharmacy profession for over five years now. The inability of the Government and regulatory bodies to curb these growing supply chain impediments hasn’t done pharmacists or their customers any good.
Pharmacy minister Earl Howe’s response with respect to UK pharmacy supplies shortages in August last year, of these being ‘managed away’, directly affected pharmacists. Trying to somehow ‘manage away the problem’, pharmacists strived for hours on end to procure hard to get medicines for the upkeep of their public service obligation (PSO). The PSO casts an obligation on Drug Companies to manufacture enough drugs to meet the public’s need. Once this obligation is fulfilled by the manufacturer the responsibility shifts to the wholesalers and finally to every pharmacy who is obligated to satisfy the needs of their patients. Thus PSO is not only an obligation cast on the pharmacist but also manufacturers and wholesalers alike.
Trying to manage these shortages away, in some cases pharmacists have gone to great lengths to ensure patients meet their prescription drug requirements. While in others, a pharmacist’s inability to procure out-of-stock medication has led to many disgruntled and distressed patients being hospitalised as a direct result of a shortage UK pharmacy supplies, and pharmacies are losing out on patients.
The current state of the UK’s pharmaceutical supply chain doesn’t paint a pretty picture. Fortunately, fixing this seemingly unalterable supply chain may not be as complex as it seems.
4Pharma sums up the solution in just one word – Wholesaling!
4Pharma recognises that drug line restrictions, and the provision of UK pharmacy supplies, have been altered to suit the monopolistic needs of pharmaceutical manufacturers and it is to this end that it promotes the use of wholesaling to overcome supply chain restrictions.
Fear and a lack of knowledge with respect to the functioning of the supply chain and the legalities that surround it have often led to many independent pharmacists being reluctant to wholesale in the UK.
According to the MHRA, any entity holding a Wholesale Dealers Licence (WDL) is entitled to wholesale legally and ethically – Medicines Act 1968 & Human medicine regulation 2012
Providing your pharmacy unit with a viable solution to funding, reducing drug costs and promoting market efficiency by equalizing prices across Europe; wholesaling can be effectively used to negate the lack of UK pharmacy supplies and 4Pharma is a case in point!
4pharma Wholesale 