Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to address the reported increase in community pharmacies having to dispense NHS prescriptions at a loss.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
When market prices rise and pharmacies cannot purchase products at or below the Drug Tariff NHS reimbursement price, the Pharmaceutical Service Negotiating Committee (PSNC) can request the Department to reconsider this price. If a new reimbursement price is issued this is known as a concessionary price, which is established using real time data from suppliers to generate prices that are reflective of the overall market.
Furthermore, the Department assesses the overall medicine margin, the difference between the reimbursement price and the price the pharmacy was charged by the supplier, through an annual 'medicine margin survey'. This data is used to calculate the average amount of medicines margin retained during the year. All products that receive a concessionary price are looked at in detail in the margin survey. If underpayment has occurred, it will be made good to pharmacy contractors through margin adjustment.
As part of the ‘Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework 5-year deal: year 4 (2022 to 2023) and year 5 (2023 to 2024)’, which is available in an online-only format, the PSNC and the Department are reviewing the current concessionary price arrangement.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what support they will provide to community pharmacy teams, if any, who are (1) dealing with an increasing number of medicines shortages, and (2) spending increasing hours sourcing medicines to ensure that patients do not go without.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
Medicine supply problems can occur for various reasons; for example, due to manufacturing difficulties, regulatory problems, problems with the supply of raw materials, sudden demand spikes or from issues which are related to the distribution of the product.
The Department has well-established procedures to deal with medicine supply issues and works closely with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the pharmaceutical industry, NHS England and others within the supply chain to help prevent shortages and to ensure that the risks to patients are minimised when they do arise.
One of the tools we use to support pharmacists to manage supply issues are serious shortage protocols (SSPs), a standard procedure used frequently to manage medicine supply issues. They are a safe and effective way to ensure that medicines continue to be available for everyone who needs them, while saving time for patients, pharmacists and prescribers.
Issuing a SSP allows pharmacists to legally supply a specified alternative medicine, removing the need for the patient to return to the prescriber which saves time in general practitioners practices and inconvenience for patients.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address community pharmacists experiencing daily shortages of medicines.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
Medicine supply problems can occur for various reasons; for example, due to manufacturing difficulties, regulatory problems, problems with the supply of raw materials, sudden demand spikes or from issues which are related to the distribution of the product.
The Department has well-established procedures to deal with medicine supply issues and works closely with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the pharmaceutical industry, NHS England and others within the supply chain to help prevent shortages and to ensure that the risks to patients are minimised when they do arise.
One of the tools we use to support pharmacists to manage supply issues are serious shortage protocols (SSPs), a standard procedure used frequently to manage medicine supply issues. They are a safe and effective way to ensure that medicines continue to be available for everyone who needs them, while saving time for patients, pharmacists and prescribers.
Issuing a SSP allows pharmacists to legally supply a specified alternative medicine, removing the need for the patient to return to the prescriber which saves time in general practitioners practices and inconvenience for patients.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the current medicines price concession system.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
When market prices rise and pharmacies cannot purchase products at or below the Drug Tariff NHS reimbursement price, the Pharmaceutical Service Negotiating Committee (PSNC) can request the Department to reconsider this price. If a new reimbursement price is issued this is known as a concessionary price, which is established using real time data from suppliers to generate prices that are reflective of the overall market.
Furthermore, the Department assesses the overall medicine margin, the difference between the reimbursement price and the price the pharmacy was charged by the supplier, through an annual 'medicine margin survey'. This data is used to calculate the average amount of medicines margin retained during the year. All products that receive a concessionary price are looked at in detail in the margin survey. If underpayment has occurred, it will be made good to pharmacy contractors through margin adjustment.
As part of the ‘Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework 5-year deal: year 4 (2022 to 2023) and year 5 (2023 to 2024)’, which is available in an online-only format, the PSNC and the Department are reviewing the current concessionary price arrangement.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) primary, and (2) community, care services have been put out to tender in the past year.
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not collected centrally. The procurement of hospital, primary care and community services is undertaken at local trust and clinical commissioning group level.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many NHS hospital services have been put out to procurement in the past year.
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not collected centrally. The procurement of hospital, primary care and community services is undertaken at local trust and clinical commissioning group level.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which Alternative Provider Medical Services primary care contracts have been found to be inadequate by the Care Quality Commission.
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
Currently, there are 142 practices registered and rated by the Care Quality Commission which hold an Alternative Provider Medical Services contract. Of these, there is one practice with a current overall rating of inadequate.