The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 270 No 7242 p430
29 March 2003

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Report: "The Procurement of Primary Care medicines" (PDF 300K)

Wales should test central buying for primary care

Centralised procument of medicines for use in primary care should be tested in Wales, the Auditor General for Wales has recommended, despite acknowledging the problems this might cause for community pharmacies.

John Bourn says in a report prepared by the National Audit Office Wales that if primary care had been able to obtain the same terms as those obtained in hospitals, the cost of the most commonly used medicines would have been £50m lower in 2001, saving about one-eighth of the drugs budget.

However, he notes "securing potential saving on this scale in practice is not straightforward and is not guaranteed". Prices in secondary care are often lower because hospital use can lead to significant repeat use in primary care. Centralised purchasing would affect the roles and payment of community pharmacists. If lower prices were negotiated, Wales might become a source of parallel imports to the other home countries.

The report, which was to be debated by the National Assembly for Wales on 27 March after The Journal went to press, says that the assembly needs to look at any changes in procurement alongside efforts to promote rational prescribing and medicines management.

Phil Parry, chairman of Community Pharmacy Wales, expressed concern about the effect even testing centralised procurement might have on the pharmacy supply chain. The costs of distribution had not been taken into account, he added.

The report can be found here as a PDF (300K)

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