Month: October 2022

MLAs told 99% of community pharmacies struggling to source medicines

An emergency summit took place at Stormont as MLAs were briefed on expected widespread medicine shortages this winter which are being exacerbated by an underlying funding crisis in community pharmacy.

At the cross-party meeting of MLAs, representatives from the community pharmacy sector revealed that 74% of pharmacists were spending between 1-3 hours per day sourcing medicines, with shortages already on approximately 1000 medicine packs per pharmacy per month.

The committee was briefed by Community Pharmacy NI Chief Executive, Gerard Greene and CPNI Board Director, John Clark who, after issuing a critical supply warning last week, told MLAs that the situation will deteriorate further as the sector’s underlying funding crisis is set to worsen when the Assembly and Executive are formally dissolved on Friday.    

With reported shortages already impacting medicines used to treat health conditions including osteoporosis, high blood pressure, insomnia, mental health and coronary conditions, the sector reports that the very core function of medicines supply is on the verge of collapseand an emergency intervention is needed within days. 

Beyond October, MLAs were told the next Health Minister must take steps to modify Northern Ireland’s Drug Tariff, which is the payment mechanism used to pay pharmacists for the service they provide, so that long-term protections can prevent against future medicine supply pressures.

Gerard Greene, Chief Executive of Community Pharmacy NI said:

“As medicine supply pressures deepen and the sense of concern builds, we have taken the opportunity to give elected representatives a full account of the gravity of the situation in terms of the very real health and patient safety concerns that are arising rapidly.

“This is just one symptom of an under-lying problem. Community pharmacy is operating with reduced funding of £20-30 million this year compared to each of the last two years, and that is before rising costs are factored in. The Department’s proposed £5.3 million falls far short of what is needed at this time to enable the service to be maintained and for pharmacies to be able to buy the medicines being prescribed from wholesalers.

“The reality is that the Northern Ireland Drug Tariff, has never been designed to suit the health needs of the local population. Now, medicine prices of many common generic medicines are spiraling out of control and community pharmacy simply cannot be expected to meet these pressures without proper assistance from the Department.

“We remain fully cooperative and hope that an adequate solution can be found but it simply must reflect the real-life financial costs of ever-rising medicine costs.”

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Pam Cameron MLA, Chair of the APG on Community Pharmacy said:

“I am deeply alarmed by unfolding funding crisis in pharmacy with more and more medicine lines in short supply for our constituents. The fact that virtually all the community pharmacies in my constituency and across Northern Ireland are already experiencing shortages on hundreds of medicine packs is frankly dangerous and requires immediate attention. We are already staring into a difficult winter, adding medicine shortages on top of this spells disaster.

“We have been working closely with Community Pharmacy NI to explore solutions, and what is clear is that intervention from the Department to stabilise medicine prices is vital. Today we heard that an immediate funding injection, which matches the scale of the problem, is the only way to sustain medicine supply and services this winter. And, as a Group, we would also support making far reaching reforms to the Drugs Tariff so that we are not, yet again, kicking the can down the road.

“I would encourage the Department of Health to re-double its efforts to find a solution to stabilise the sector. Community pharmacies are facing the very real prospect of going to the wall without proper and adequate support in place.”

Supplies of many prescription medicines could run out ‘within weeks’

Community pharmacists have issued a stark warning that shortages and skyrocketing prices of many medicines could result in pharmacies being unable to supply important prescription medicines to patients.

The sector has said it is already seeing the price of buying medicines from wholesalers rise exponentially for many products, with shortages now common across many medicines. It is warning that some patients may not be able to get the medicines they need in the coming weeks. 

If left to deteriorate without Department of Health intervention, community pharmacists have said they will no longer be able to afford to pay for commonly prescribed drugs used to treat health conditions including osteoporosis, high blood pressure, insomnia, mental health and coronary conditions.

Community Pharmacy NI has called on the Department of Health to support community pharmacists to meet the additional price rises and ensure medicine supplies to patients can be maintained.

David McCrea, Community Pharmacist at Dundela Pharmacy, Belfast said:

“As a community pharmacist for over 30 years, I have never witnessed the price of medicines rise this sharply. It is becoming increasingly hard for us to afford to buy the medicines from wholesalers because we are not being paid the full cost of these drugs by the Department.

“I have seen the price of some medicines I need to buy for patients rising fiftyfold, but the Department only paying a fraction of what I am being charged. With the shortages and price increases affecting hundreds of drugs I simply cannot afford to operate under the current model. It is causing financial stress, my credit limits with wholesalers are being breached, and it is simply unsustainable.

“First and foremost, we must now be paid properly for the cost of these medicines by the Department. The bottom line is that we are now facing the situation where we will not be able to afford to supply our patients with essential medicines, within weeks.”

Gerard Greene, Chief Executive of Community Pharmacy NI said:

“The skyrocketing price of medicines that we are currently experiencing requires an immediate response from the Department. Community pharmacists cannot afford the increasing prices, particularly when the service is dealing with more patients. In addition to the excessive costs, pharmacy teams are spending hours every day sourcing medicines when they could be using their clinical skills to directly support their patients.

“The community pharmacy network has a responsibility to ensure patient safety at all times, and the threat to the supply of vital medicines is very real. It is incumbent upon us to now warn people of the risk to medicine supply for many drugs and to ask the public to understand that pharmacies are doing their best under impossible circumstances.

“Fundamentally, the source of the issue is that Northern Ireland does not have a workable Drug Tariff for dispensing medicines, and we have made repeated representations to the Department of Health (NI) requesting a change to these arrangements and to get a payment system that reflects the specific circumstances of Northern Ireland.

“It is a fact that community pharmacies regularly pay suppliers more for medicines than they get back from the Department. The critical drug supply issue we are now facing shows that the Department must reform the funding structures for community pharmacy in Northern Ireland. We need an immediate injection of funding to help pharmacists deal with these pricing issues, as well as a properly funded community pharmacy contract going forward”

Notes to editor

An example of some of the drugs that are impacted include:

• Alendronic Acid 70mg tablets (Osteoporosis).
• Lercanidipine tablets (Blood pressure)
• Fluoxetine 20mg capsules (Anti-depressants)
• Esomeprazole tablets (Gastric disorders e.g. ulcers)
• Finasteride tablets (prostate conditions).