No move to central medicines purchasing in Scotland
Current arrangements for purchasing medicines for the NHS are cost-effective and should be maintained, according to Scottish health minister Andy Kerr.
Answering a parliamentary question raised earlier this month about whether
medicines should be purchased nationally for both primary care and hospital
use, Mr Kerr said: “There are no current plans to do so. I believe
that the current arrangements secure a cost-effective means of purchasing
medicines for the NHS and that a combined system would sacrifice the
advantages offered by the current separate arrangements.”
Mr Kerr continued: “Medicines dispensed by community pharmacists
against NHS prescriptions are purchased and owned by the pharmacist.
Once a medicine is dispensed, the pharmacist is reimbursed the cost of
the item less a discount. The financial risk and the administrative costs
are borne by the contractors and not the NHS.” Hospitals, he explained,
use national and regional purchasing arrangements to take advantage of
the collective purchasing power of NHS boards.
Scottish Pharmaceutical General Council chairman Frank Owens said: “In
Scotland, at least, the minister’s statement should help remove
anxieties over NHS purchasing policies and, more importantly, provide
greater confidence for contractors as they prepare to deliver new pharmaceutical
care services.” |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
Acrobat
Reader