Dismal science sells pharmacy short
Economists — practitioners of what Thomas Carlyle dubbed "the dismal science" — have long been
held to know the price of everything and the value of nothing. The economists at the Office of
Fair Trading have now decided on the price of local community pharmacies — one pound.
In its long-awaited report on "The control of entry regulations and retail pharmacy services
in the United Kingdom", the OFT has calculated that abolishing the control of entry regulations — its
single recommendation to the Government — would save consumers around £30m a year on cheaper
non-prescription medicines and a further £26m a year through reduced National Health Service
and business administration costs. This works out at a mere £1 a head each year — not much of
a gain for the likely closure of many local community pharmacies.
The biggest problem with the OFT report is its narrow, purist view of the pharmacy market and
its insistence that cheaper prices as a result of cut-throat competition are worth having at
any cost. Despite assurances to the contrary, the OFT appears to have taken little account of
the plans for developing pharmacy services being drawn up by the Health Departments in England,
Scotland and Wales and no account of the social and economic benefits successful community pharmacies
bring to the areas in which they operate. The public interest of consumers is not the same as
the public interest of patients or of local communities and Marshall Davies, President of the
Royal Pharmaceutical Society, is right to point this out in a letter to Health Minister David
Lammy.
The control of entry regulations have had the desired effect of stabilising the community pharmacy
market. They have acted to limit both entry and exit in the market, with the number of pharmacies
remaining around the level of 15 years ago. There are certainly areas where access to pharmacy
services could be improved, in particular for out-of-town and out-of-hours settings, as mentioned
in the pharmacy plan for England. But to allow unrestricted pharmacy openings (and thus closures)
would be to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Community pharmacies are worth more than a pound to consumers and to the NHS.
We urge the Health Departments to reject the OFT conclusion and stand up on behalf of pharmacy
and be prepared to be counted. Back to Top
|
