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The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 270 No 7241 p387
22 March 2003

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OFT test not appropriate says Society

Patient need, not commercial drivers, should control pharmacy plans

The House of Commons Health Select Committee has been told by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society that commercial competitiveness is the wrong test to use when measuring health services.

Following a request from the committee for a memorandum on the Office of Fair Trading's pharmacy report, the Society wrote that the OFT principle — that competitive markets to which there are no barriers to entry generally serve the interests of consumers best — should not apply where the National Health Service is the main customer for the majority of community pharmacy services.

In its memorandum, the Society says that the NHS plans for pharmacy for England, Wales and Scotland all aim to use the community pharmacy infrastructure as a platform for the delivery of local clinical services. This means that pharmacies need to be planned and managed so that they are sited in areas of patient need.

"Implementing the OFT's plan will lead to a distribution of pharmacies based on commercial drivers and not patient need and could disadvantage those vulnerable groups already most in need of pharmacy services," the committee was told.

In addition, the Society asked the committee to consider the workforce implications of large numbers of pharmacies opening following deregulation.

OFT inquiry The Health Committee is to hold an inquiry into the OFT's pharmacy report on 3 April. It has called witnesses from the National Pharmaceutical Association, the Co-operative Pharmacy Technical Panel, Asda, the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee and officials from the OFT.

OFT: 1,000 responses Around a thousand responses to the OFT pharmacy report have been received by the Department of Health, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State David Lammy told the House of Commons on 18 March. He added that the Department was working with the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Patricia Hewitt, to ensure that the Government response properly reflects the interests of NHS patients in providing access and choice for improved local pharmacy services.