The government needs to work with the whole supply chain in case of a flu pandemic, the British Association of Pharmaceutical Wholesalers (BAPW) has said.

This would ensure that patients can access medicines quickly during a pandemic.

The comments by the BAPW came in its response to the Department of Health's (DH) consultation on the UK Influenza Pandemic Preparedness Strategy.

A pre-agreed national framework of medicine distribution was suggested, in order to reduce uncertainty in the supply chain.

Medicine manufacturers should work with full-line wholesalers to ensure that they have access to the medicines that may be subject to an increase in demand during a pandemic, it said in its response.

The consultation response also calls for the DH to organise an agreement with BAPW wholesalers, which would permit them to rent medicine storage space in the wholesalers' depots.

This would allow medicines to be stored closer to hot spots around the UK and provide more immediate access to them, it says in its response.

The association then called for the DH to develop instructions that outline what should happen to any unused medicines that wholesalers could be left holding after a crisis had finished.

The recommendations were based on lessons learned during the 2010 flu epidemic according to BAPW executive director Martin Sawer.

"These recommendations are based upon our key learnings from the flu epidemic that occurred during the winter of 2010, which placed increased strain on the medicines supply chain.

"We welcome the opportunity to share these recommendations with the government and are confident that these measures would help safeguard the universal and impartial supply of medicines to patients across the UK in future outbreaks," he said.