A newsletter for pharmacists giving details of stock problems is now being produced weekly. The newsletter, called Solutions, is put together by the pharmacy business and distribution centre at UCL Hospitals NHS trust. It has been issued every three weeks for several years but funding has now been made available for weekly production for one year. A full-time member of staff has been employed to produce the newsletter.
Solutions includes an alphabetical list of problem items, together with information on reasons for the supply delay and dates on which stocks are expected again. Examples are given of alternative sources and alternative products. Discontinued items and drug recalls are also included.
Mr Alan Karr (pharmacy business services manager, UCL Hospitals NHS trust) said on December 14 that the newsletter was currently sent to around 200 trusts. Although primarily intended for hospital pharmacists, he thought it could also be of interest to community pharmacists.
He hoped that the newsletter might help pharmacists to sort out any particular supply problems around the millennium.
Distribution is carried out by IDIS World Medicines. The newsletter is also available on the internet and can be accessed via the IDIS website (www.idis.co.uk), to which interested community pharmacists are directed.