The Health Service Executive (HSE) have been reviewing the pharmaceutical supply chain, with a view to seeking value for money in the State's drugs bill, in order to better fund existing and innovative therapies without compromising patient safety or continuity of supply. Following the completion of a consultation process, and informed by the independent economic analysis carried out by Indecon Economic Consultants, new reimbursement arrangements for wholesale supply were announced by the HSE on 17th September 2007. The report by Indecon was published by the HSE on 13 November 2007. All aspects of the Indecon report were considered by the HSE in making its determination.
The existing wholesale mark-up in the range of 15% to 17.6% is neither reasonable nor sustainable. The Government supports the HSE's decision to pay an 8% mark-up from 1 March, and 7% from 1 January 2009 which will be applied by reducing the reimbursement price paid to community pharmacy contractors from those dates. In response to demands from community pharmacists to address the alleged impact of the new wholesale pricing arrangements, the HSE has offered a voluntary interim contract with a flat rate dispensing fee of not less than €5 for all dispensing under the GMS and community drugs schemes.
I have also established an Independent Body to assess an interim, fair community pharmacy dispensing fee to be paid for the medical card scheme, the DPS and other community drug schemes. This Body is being chaired by Mr Sean Dorgan, former Head of IDA Ireland. It has been asked to make its recommendations by the end of May 2008.
Both the HSE as the contracting body and the IPU as the representative organisation for community pharmacists, along with other stakeholders, will be entitled to make submissions to the Independent Body.
Based on its consideration of submissions received and its own independent evaluation, the body will recommend an appropriate dispensing fee that would, in its view, represent a fair and reasonable price to be paid for the pharmaceutical service currently being provided by community pharmacists to the HSE under the GMS and community drug schemes. If approved by Government, it will be backdated to the date from which any individual community pharmacist may choose to avail of the HSE's offer. Accordingly, each pharmacist will have three options: to avail of the interim contract as outlined by the HSE letter of 2 January 2008 immediately; to accept the interim contract upon the report of the Independent Body; or to stay with the existing retail fee structure until the agreement of a substantive new contract.
I believe that threats of withdrawal from the community pharmacy contract are unjustified and are not in anyone's interest. There is no need to bring patients into a dispute between the pharmacists and the HSE. There can be no grounds for causing upset or anxiety about the supply of prescriptions to patients.
