The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 272 No 7305 p793
26 June 2004

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NHS starts buying generic medicines under national contracts

Changes to the process by which certain generic medicines are procured for NHS hospitals in England are under way, according to Howard Stokoe, principal pharmacist, NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency. But many of the main stakeholders, including generics suppliers, organisations charged with managing the supply of generic drugs (eg, the Pharmaceutical Market Support Group) and procurement pharmacists, have some misgivings about the new set-up.

Mr Stokoe set out the new arrangements at the Procurement and Distribution Interest Group of the Guild of Healthcare Pharmacists’ symposium on 10 June. Agreements to supply those generic drugs affected by the new rules are now being co-ordinated on a national, rather than a regional, basis. Separate bids are invited for each affected product line, rather than some product lines being pooled, and “e-auctions” will be used to award the contracts for a carefully-selected small range of products. The move is part of the “NHS Supply Chain Excellence Programme”, launched in March, which is designed to use the purchasing power of the NHS more effectively, making cost savings and improving transparency and efficiency.

Peter Sharott, chairman of the Pharmaceutical Market Support Group, told The Journal that the PMSG is concerned about the effects of the new arrangements on the continuity of supply of generic products, and is working closely with the NHS to ensure that these issues are managed appropriately. He emphasised that contracting for drugs is not the same as contracting for many other commodities the NHS uses: “It is vital to preserve the supply chain for critical drugs to avoid compromising patient care.”

Allan Karr, pharmacy business services manager at University College London Hospitals NHS Trust and chairman of PDIG, commented: “Anything that increases the risk of drug shortages is always going to be an issue for hospital pharmacists. Whether the savings made under the new national arrangements will benefit the drugs budgets of individual trusts and whether trust staff will feel disenfranchised from the procurement process for generic drugs and so not be fully committed to the agreements are also considerations.”