The backlog of prescriptions for pricing in Wales is expected to continue to grow over the next few months.
The Welsh Health and Social Services Secretary (Ms Jane Hutt) said in her January monthly report to the National Assembly for Wales's health and social services committee that Health Solutions Wales was currently pricing prescriptions for August, 1999, instead of November. However, the number of items in category D had fallen significantly over the past two months and, if the trend continued, the agency was expecting to be pricing a month within a month by April. Ways in which the backlog which would have accumulated by then could be speedily eliminated were being considered.
Ms Hutt added: "We are maintaining contact with the Department of Health and are working with the profession and the health authorities to minimise the effect on community pharmacists and to control the budgetary and audit effects on health authorities themselves.