The British Association of Pharmaceutical Wholesalers (BAPW) has called on the Department of Health (DH) to delay implementation of the government's new medicine pricing scheme on wholesalers by a month or risk creating "damaging effects" on the supply chain. The BAPW expected the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme (PPRS), which comes into effect in January, to reduce the price of existing branded medicines.

BAPW chief executive Martin Sawer argued that.wholesalers would need an extra month to sell on excess medicines they had bought for a higher price in December or they may have to reduce their stock of less profitable medicines in order to recoup lost money. This could lead to "frustration" from pharmacists who would either get charged more for these medicines or experience delays in getting hold of them, Mr Sawer told C+D.  

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	The BAPW was also concerned that a sharp price drop could encourage members of the supply chain to export medicines, which threatened to "exacerbate shortages".

It had already raised these issues with the DH over the past four months, but had not received a formal response and time was "pressing", Mr Sawer said. "We're flagging up these issues now because it's a critical time for negotiations," he told C+D. In spring, the BAPW and PSNC called on the DH to introduce a clause in the PPRS that required all members of the supply chain to deliver medicines to pharmacies within 24 hours. In a statement on Tuesday (September 3), PSNC stressed that it was spending "a lot of time" raising the issue of stock shortages with the DH. The PPRS is reviewed yearly and revised prices are introduced every five years, based on negotiations between the DH and the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry. Revised prices were last introduced in 2009, when prices of branded medicines were reduced by about 5 per cent and wholesalers were given a month to catch up, Mr Sawer said. PSNC already negotiates a month delay in PPRS adjustments for pharmacies to allow them to manage their stocks over the Christmas period.