CRISIS


pharmacists and their staff with a daily struggle to find many of the medicines needed by their patients. When required items are sourced, pharmacists can find themselves paying more than ten times the usual price, all without knowing if they will be fully reimbursed.


this situation, taken in conjunction with the fact that, for months, pharmacists across nI have been suffering from the effects of category m payments being reduced - with 87 per cent stating in a recent cPnI survey that they were ‘very worried about their own businesses’ - according to mr Pengelly, nI pharmacists are earning too much money from purchasing.


‘changes to the category m payments reflect adjustments to the Drug tariff to account for levels of purchase profit retained by community pharmacy contractors,’ he wrote. ‘category m reimbursement prices were reduced from august 2017 in order to reflect the significant profit margins being attained by community pharmacy contractors from the purchasing of medicines.’


finally, mr Pengelly addressed the question of an interim rescue package and the reintroduction of proprietary mitigation payments.


‘the Department considers the current levels of remuneration for community pharmacy contractors sufficient to meet statutory objectives, as evidenced by margin survey results, which demonstrate that, in recent years, contractors are in receipt of substantial profits on medicines purchased. there is no basis therefore for any rescue package or reintroduction of proprietary mitigation payments.’


to use a popular analogy, at a time when the profession needs to ‘boldly go’ forward towards ‘the final frontier’, nI community pharmacy appears to be operating in a parallel universe to those at Stormont and in Linenhall Street. But, it has to be said, one has to wonder about the quality – and quantity – of the information that is being submitted to the Permanent Secretary.


the issue – and challenge – for all concerned is that mr Pengelly has aLL of the necessary information given to him, so that he can make considered and well-informed decisions: decisions, which reflect the trUE state of nI community pharmacy.


‘Everyone in


Northern Ireland knows that the


province’s healthcare system is in danger of imploding’


the political stalemate, which arose as a result of Sinn fein walking out on the assembly, bringing about its collapse at the beginning of 2017, has meant that little has happened here politically for more than a year. as a result, some of the province’s pharmacists decided to take matters into their own hands and lobby their local mPs.


Democratic Unionist mP, Ian Paisley Jr, was one of the politicians approached by pharmacists and constituents with regard to the survival of local pharmacy services.


‘over the last couple of years, as with many other mPs, I have received briefings from pharmacists in my constituency of north antrim. although these pharmacists have straddled generations and a range of localities – urban, rural etc, the issues that they were raising were identical.


‘In all cases, these pharmacists were facing increasing financial pressures brought about by the fact that pharmacy here is being underfunded – a fact that has been borne out by the publication of the cost of Service Inquiry (coSI) - and the situation has been exacerbated by the fact that, over the last year or so, there has been political stalemate and inertia.


‘Everyone in northern Ireland knows that the province’s healthcare system is in danger of imploding. In my own constituency, for example, both the Dalriada family Practice and the Dalriada hospital are under considerable pressure and, as in other regions, both primary and secondary care are being challenged by the pressures of their workloads.


‘other regions of the UK – Scotland and Wales in particular – have clearly shown that community pharmacy can play a very important role in providing pharmacy and clinical services that are outside of the current remit of nI pharmacists. funding pharmacists to do this would be of major assistance in relieving the pressure on their gP and other primary care colleagues, and would also have a positive, knock-on effect on secondary care. Yet what have the Department of health (Doh) done about this?


‘Instead of putting money into pharmacy – the recent coSI clearly showed that community pharmacy is being underfunded to the tune of £20m – the Doh has put money into practice-based pharmacists – a move that will cost around £15m per year. they have effectively created another layer of healthcare that they don’t need.


‘Instead of community pharmacy being acknowledged as a valuable source of excellent clinical services, there has arisen for some reason an impression that pharmacists are supplementing the health service with their own profits.


‘this is completely wrong. If mLas could – and mPs can – appreciate the role that the community pharmacist can play in nI healthcare, why can’t the Doh? I have already raised the issues with the Secretary of State, Karen Bradley mP, but, as I say, due to the current political stalemate, I doubt anything major will happen for the foreseeable future.


‘I will, of course, as will my colleagues, continue to lobby for the continued provision of community pharmacy services and, indeed, for the enhancement of the service.


‘having said that, last week, I managed to raise a question in house of commons and, as a result, the Prime minister has now arranged for me to meet with the Secretary of State to discuss the situation, so hopefully we will be able to get something moving!’


PharmacY In focUS - 15


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