The Pharmaceutical Journal Vol 267 No 7172 643-649
3 November 2001

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Specials

Who is being exploited?

From Mr D. Williams, MRPharmS

I have forced myself out of my usual apathetic state to write to you regarding an incident that occurred recently in my pharmacy, that sums up pharmacy in 2001. I was on holiday when a prescription arrived for menthol 1 per cent in aqueous cream. My locum ordered this from BCM because, like me, he will not make up any extemporaneous preparations on the National Health Service while the Government refuses to pay a reasonable fee for doing so. The cream arrived, as did an invoice for £92.20.

I normally purchase this preparation from St Mary's Hospital, Cardiff, for £5.22, so I rang BCM for an explanation of the price. They informed me that it was not a standard line and it had to be made as a special and that was why the price was so high. They also stated that if they had demand for, say, 20 to 30 pots per month, they would charge a price similar to that of St Mary's. This leads me to ask the questions, is £92 a fair price for the work involved in producing one pot? If it is, why am I exploited by the £1 dispensing fee? If it is not, why is the NHS exploited by the £92 charge?

David Williams
Ferndale, Mid Glamorgan

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