AQW 5027/22-27


Ms Claire Sugden
Independent
East Londonderry


Tabled Date: 20/10/2022
Answered On Date: 26/10/2022
Priority Written: No


Question:
To ask the Minister of Health to detail (i) whether community pharmacies regularly pay more for medicines than they are reimbursed for by his Department; and (ii) what plans he has to make changes to the drug tariff to enable community pharmacies to dispense medicines more affordably and without cost to themselves.


Answer:
Contractors are not reimbursed on an individual dispensed medicine basis. Under current funding arrangements for community pharmacies, there is an agreed level of retained purchased profit (also known as “margin”) within the system. This figure is currently a minimum of £26.5 million.
In order to determine that the remuneration to pharmacy contractors is both fair and reasonable, (and delivering the agreed level of retained purchase profit), the Ongoing Margin Survey is carried out each year. The aim of the margin survey is to estimate the level of “margin” community pharmacies are able to retain from purchasing medicines. The Ongoing Margin Survey is managed by a multidisciplinary group which has representations from Community Pharmacy Northern Ireland (CPNI), the DoH and both the operational and analytical teams from the Business Services Organisation (BSO). An Independent Assessor verifies calculations and attends all meeting of the multi-disciplinary group.
As previously stated, the current agreed level of retained purchase profit (“margin”) is a minimum of £26.5 million per annum. Results from the last two years which have been completed (19/20 and 20/21) indicates levels of margin significantly in excess of this figure.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) in England consulted on a number of community pharmacy drug reimbursement reform proposals back in 2019. DHSC are now beginning to implement these changes to the English Drug Tariff, and as the NIDT is currently reflective of the English Drug Tariff, a consultation on potential changes to the Northern Ireland Tariff was issued in March 2022.
My Department will be working together with our colleagues in CPNI on the outworkings of this consultation over the coming months, including consideration of potential impacts and mitigations