Full Conference Programme
Exhibition floorplan and complete exhibitor list
SEE PAGS 6 -13
The Pharmacy Show (30th Sept & 1st Oct 2012) If you don’t have time to register online or through the call centre, why not bring this voucher and register on the day!
FREE ENTRY WITH THIS VOUCHER
SEE PAGES 10 & 11
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PRE-SHOW NEWSPAPER
MEDICINES COMMUNITY SHORTAGES NEARING PHARMACY AT CRITICAL POINT THE CROSSROADS Pressure mounts as 6000 pharmacists gather for most important event in both show and profession’s history. By Michael Westcott, Managing Director, CloserStill Media Healthcare
The current position on supply shortages is disrupting patient care and must be resolved as a matter of urgency, says John D’Arcy, Managing Director of Numark.
The results of last month’s report by the JOHN D’ARCY, All Party Pharmacy MANAGING DIRECTOR, Group (APPG) Inquiry NUMARK. may have come as a shock to the public, but it only confirmed what the pharmacy industry has known for some time; that patients in England are suffering because of a shortage in some NHS prescription medicines. The group of MPs concluded that the main cause of shortages was the export of medicines intended for the UK market to other countries in the EU, and called for a “renewed sense of urgency” among those responsible for the medicines supply chain.
SUE SHARPE
ON HELEN GORD
So you have booked your place at this year’s Pharmacy Show at a time when you – and thousands of your professional colleagues – are facing some of the biggest challenges and issues than at any other time since the inception of the NHS. The microscope is out on our community and our professional image and some increasingly loud voices in important places are saying our reputation is slipping. We are being questioned as to whether commercial pursuit is overriding our professional conduct and approach - profit over patient [outcomes]. Can Pharmacy make a meaningful and measurable contribution to public health as the focus of healthcare – and commissioning - looks to switch to primary care? Do we really want to – or arguably more pertinent, are we confident enough to say we want to, and then demonstrate it. We are being asked to focus on medicines optimisation at a time when the current DTP model and the perfectly legal PI activity means that pharmacists spend more time managing supply than seeing patients under the NMS or undertaking targeted MURs. Throw in the new contract changes, the continuous erosion of the commissioning pot for services and the uncertainty of the general commissioning landscape – and most pharmacists, contractors and pharmacy staff are rightly concerned about what the future holds. Supported by
KIRIT PATEL
Concern and uncertainty often leads to paralysis. As a community we’ve struggled to get ourselves heard externally and reach consensus internally of the direction of travel we want to take as a profession and our role in healthcare delivery against a backdrop of wholesale changes in our landscape, policy and funding.
E
BRIDG PETER BAIN
“The microscope is out on our community and our professional image and some increasingly loud voices in important places are saying our reputation is slipping.” Michael Westcott
When 6,000 pharmacists gather at the NEC for the Pharmacy Show on September 30th, it is your chance to discuss and debate many of these key issues with peers and colleagues and with leaders of our key representative bodies, who will help you realise the opportunities and to navigate through these uncertain times. Respected pharmacy entrepreneur Kirit Patel (see page 3) will give his honest and frank assessment to fellow pharmacy owners on how he thinks we can build better businesses through empowering our staff in his keynote address. While Boots’ boss Peter Bainbridge will outline Boots’ view of the current state of community pharmacy and share his
The problem isn’t new, says John D’Arcy, Managing Director of Numark. “Since 2007, manufacturers have been controlling supply and protecting their margins via the Reduced Wholesalers or Direct to Pharmacy (DTP) models.” The situation has been exacerbated by the quota system, he says. “These quotas have been imposed by manufacturers without discussion or agreement, and are the greatest cause of frustration and inconvenience to pharmacists attempting to fulfil their supply obligations. Quotas combined with DTP and reduced wholesaling models not only reduces the availability of stock in the market, but also choice and competition.” It means that pharmacists are wasting valuable hours each week sourcing product, time that could more usefully be spent assisting patients, he says. “This situation has been dragging on for so long now, that people have started to accept it. Our only saving grace is that in most cases the shortage of supply amounts to an inconvenience, rather than a life or death situation. But this state of affairs is not good for anyone; not for the industry and certainly not for the patient.” Parallel export is a legal activity under EU trade laws, and indeed, no one objects to importing medicines to the UK, as D’Arcy point out: “We live in a competitive world and parallel export is entirely consistent with European free trade law. We’ve always been happy to have other Continued on page 4
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