Without rigorous testing, the EPS 2 programme has the potential to push the pharmacy supply system over the edge in a single week, leading multiples have warned.

If technology slowed the dispensing process by 30 seconds per item it would add an estimated £150 million a year to the cost of service delivery, AIMp chairman Peter Cattee claimed.

“This is not a sum that could be absorbed by pharmacy,” he warned, speaking at the Association’s annual dinner in London. “We do not oppose EPS but we oppose any business-critical innovation that has not been exhaustively evaluated and tested in pharmacies before implementation.”

The continuing exemption for opening 100-hour pharmacies is having a negative impact on pharmacy efficiency, said the AIMp chairman. This has led to over 500 new openings, with most of the cost borne by existing contractors.

“This, along with Treasury insistence of an annual productivity gain of 3 per cent, is putting an intolerable strain on pharmacists and staff which cannot go on.”
Any further pressure on pharmacies runs the risk of tipping over the careful balance between safety and cost as pharmacists are forced beyond reasonable levels of workplace stress, he warned.