Pharmacies are losing money ‘hand over fist’

Prices for some products have risen by up to 10,000% according to Stonelakes director Stephen Smith, though such rises can be temporary in what has been an extremely volatile market ever since the outbreak of Covid.

‘There have been serious stock shortages,’ he said.

‘And all pharmacies are having to pay more for some drugs than we’re getting paid for them.’

The National Health Service sets tariffs on prescription drugs, which determines the amounts that Health & Social Care pays pharmacies locally.

Mr Smith cited an example of one drug, which usually costs £3 but rose, for a time, to £50. After the standard one-month lag while a price was set, the pharmacies were reimbursed just £6.

‘Under those circumstances, it becomes inappropriate to dispense it,’ Mr Smith said.

Supplies of antibiotics have been especially badly hit due to global supply issues, combined with recent storms affecting deliveries to the island.

‘A lot of drugs are fridge items and if the boat can’t get in or gets delayed, they can no longer be considered chilled and have to be returned,’ he said.

Mr Smith said the Bridge store had been doing very well to manage the issues and was using as many wholesalers as possible to retain some flexibility.

‘The pricing structure is broken, but things are not too bad,’ he said.

‘It’s not panic stations yet – we can usually suggest alternative drugs that can be obtained more readily.’

Nevertheless, queues at pharmacies locally have been unusually long in recent weeks, prompting HSC to describe them as being under considerable pressure.

It attributed this to staff shortages as well as supply problems and asked for islanders to provide their own support by limiting requests for multiple monthly prescriptions to those deemed necessary due to off-island travel.

Customer Gillian Tidd, who needs to pick up prescriptions regularly, said she preferred to drive around the island to a pharmacy which was ‘always obliging’ rather than rely on some which seemed to be having particular issues. She had gone to Stonelakes from her home at Cobo.

‘The international supply chain is dysfunctional,’ she said.

‘It’s one of the industries in the world that could use a bit of a bashing. The staff do what they can but these days they prefer to call you back another day rather than have you wait.’

Paul Durston, owner of Boardman’s pharmacy in Alderney, said the supply chain had been challenging since the beginning of the pandemic and that staffing had been difficult for 18 months.

His business was experiencing its ‘usual Christmas rush’, he said, which was nothing new.