Nine out 10 Northern Ireland pharmacists can't pay medicine bills, leaving supply 'dangerously fragile' - but Health Minister baulks at 'bridge far too far' funding call
Nine out 10 Northern Ireland pharmacists can’t pay their medicine bills, a leading industry body says, sparking a crisis that leaves supplies ‘dangerously fragile’.
But Health Minister Mike Nesbitt has baulked at calls from Community Pharmacy NI (CPNI) to rework government funding arrangements, branding the body’s demands “a bridge too far”.
According to a CPNI survey of more than 400 of the province’s pharmacists supplied by one major wholesaler, 90% were unable to cover their medicine costs in January. The body now warns that unless Health Minister Mike Nesbitt steps in to alter funding methods, “the security of medicine supply to patients in Northern Ireland cannot be guaranteed”.
The government reimburses pharmacy owners for the products they dispense every month, but subtracts a certain amount on the assumption that cheaper generic brands of medication would have been issued in some cases.
CPNI says that system, called the “generic brand discount clawback”, needs to be paused until global problems in medicine are over, arguing international supply problems are “hitting harder in Northern Ireland due to deeper, systemic funding issues”.
States chief executive Gerard Greene, CPNI chief executive: “We are calling on the minister to suspend the clawback that the Department [of Health] deducts from our drug payments. We are not looking for more money; we’re asking for this funding to be left in the system so that we can pay our monthly medicine wholesaler bills.”
When the issue was brought to the floor of the Assembly this week, however, Mr Nesbitt said removing the clawback “is a bridge too far”.
Money given to pharmacies here is “commensurate with funding in the rest of the United Kingdom”, the minister said, while describing the 90% figure as “concerning for the [wholesale] company involved”.
Revealing his department is in talks with the industry body, he stated: “It is fair to say that we have regular negotiations and conversations with Community Pharmacy NI, but have yet to find a joint landing space when it comes to what we think is the right thing to do about investing in community pharmacy and what it thinks we need to do for it.
“I am not happy that we are not in the same place. I therefore want those discussions to continue until we are in agreement.”
DUP MLA Peter Martin brought the problem to Stormont this week. He told the News Letter the “core issue is that funding is insufficient, at a time when there is price spiking of medicines at a rate that is outstripping the repayment options that the department operate”.
Trying to hammer out a solution, he plans to meet with the province’s chief pharmaceutical officer Cathy Harrison over Easter, and this arranged a meeting between pharmacist Laura Boyd and deputy First Minister, Emma Little Pengelly.
“It was a very positive meeting, but ultimately the responsibility lies with the Health Minister to resolve,” Mr Martin said.
“We don’t want to see pharmacies going out of business in Northern Ireland or, for that matter, future medicine shortages. Positive and ongoing dialogue are vital in overcoming the challenges pharmacies currently face.”