Owner of DA Tubb Pharmacy in Plymouth Ese Kumordzi is still repaying a loan of over £10,000 that she took out last June “mainly because of the little shortfalls” in NHS drug reimbursement.
Kumordzi this week (November 12) told C+D that she took over DA Tubb 18 months ago in February 2023.
“I knew there were issues [with the sector but] I didn’t realise how critical it was until I was faced with it,” she said.
Read more: Pharmacies underpaid ‘£1 a pill’ for common Parkinson’s drug
In June, she was billed £27,000 by her wholesaler and at the same time the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) also “clawed back £18,000”, she added.
The NHS “paid [her] a lot in the beginning and then they started clawing back a lot of money” with only a couple of weeks’ notice, she told C+D.
“I came into work one morning with no supplier at all, so that was very stressful” – “how am I going to do a whole week without having one supplier going?” she added.
Read more: NPA gives DH ‘time to digest’ results of 99% ‘Yes’ collective action ballot
She told C+D that she “had good credit at that time” so she thought “let me get a loan and then replace it later”.
“I couldn’t believe it – is this really happening?” she added.
Over a year later, Kumordzi is “in a better place” but still “in the process” of paying back the personal loan, she said.
“Outdated” funding
Kumordzi told C+D that there are “three issues” that pushed her into making the decision to take out the loan.
“The reimbursement system is outdated” and leaving her “three pounds, four pounds, 90p out of pocket for medicines that [she needs] 40 of a day” so “it adds up”, she said.
She added that “Apixaban is costing a 93p loss for each box” so the drug alone left her with a £37.20 deficit in just one month for the 40 packs she needs, she claimed.
Read more: Revealed: 97% spike in number of pharmacists seeking debt support
Kumordzi told C+D that another issue is “the NHS contract, which doesn’t take account of inflation”.
“The pharmacy contract hasn’t had a real-term increase since 2016, that contract is outdated,” she said.
But she added that “the wholesaler also has a part to play in the pricing” and once there is “shortage in the market, the prices are really high”.
“Constantly feeling guilty”
Kumordzi told C+D that she fears that the financial pressures of pharmacy have left her “constantly feeling guilty”.
“This clinical role is constant reading and updating your knowledge, and you feel, ‘oh my God, that side of my life is not up to scratch’,” she said.
Read more: ‘Deep distress’: Almost two-third of pharmacies losing money warns CPE
“You’re in this job because you want to do your best to help - when you see a patient, you want to make sure you’re giving them the best information that you have,” she added.
“[When you’re] spending half of your time dealing with pricing issues how can you give your best?” she said.
DH: “We inherited a neglected system”
The Department of Health and Social Care (DH) today (November 15) reiterated that it is “committed to working with the sector and would encourage all pharmacists to work with us to achieve what we all want – a service fit for the future”.
“Unfortunately, we inherited a system that has been neglected for too long and is no longer supporting the pharmacists we need to deliver for patients at a local level,” the DH added.
Read more: NPA protest ballot: Government ‘committed to working with sector’
“Community pharmacy has a vital role to play as we move the focus of care from hospital to the community under the fundamental reforms in our 10-Year Health Plan,” it said.
Last month, the pharmacy minister said that government drug reimbursement does not aim to price match “every product” dispensed by pharmacists but rather “aims overall to reimburse” pharmacies.
£1 a pill losses
Also last month, the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) revealed that NHS underfunding has left pharmacies facing “thousands of pounds” of losses every month for common prescription medicines.
In “the worst case the NPA uncovered”, it found that pharmacies dispensing Amantadine – a drug used to treat the symptoms of Parkinson’s – are being underpaid by more than £75 a pack or £1 a pill for the medication.
Meanwhile in April, C+D revealed that the number of qualified, trainee and student pharmacists seeking support with debt and other financial issues from pharmacy charity Pharmacist Support jumped a staggering 97% in just two years.
Read more: ‘Go back to the drawing board’ over pharmacy budget relief, MPs urge
The charity, which provides financial assistance to pharmacists and their families, former pharmacists, trainees and pharmacy students in need, told C+D that it had “experienced a large increase in the number of grants provided” to struggling individuals.
The NPA yesterday revealed that 99% of England pharmacy owners who participated in its collective action vote approve of limiting pharmacy services unless funding is improved.
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article, you can contact Pharmacist Support by emailing info@pharmacistsupport.org or calling 0808 168 2233/0808 168 5133 for free
