'We have a problem with price rises': PSNC CEO answers your questions

by Lilian Anekwe

18/01/2018

8 comments

News

Exclusive

Sue Sharpe: I'm certainly not walking away and saying 'you're on your own'

From purchase profits to generics price hikes, the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee's (PSNC) outgoing CEO answered questions from C+D readers this week.

Ms Sharpe – who will be replaced by fraud prevention service CEO Simon Dukes in May – also fielded a reader question on Monday (January 15) about whether she would “stay on in any capacity” to support him.

Watch the video below to see Ms Sharpe’s responses, including her acknowledgement that drug price rises have “been a really big addition to the tremendous financial pressures pharmacists have had to bear over the last six months”.

During the same interview, Ms Sharpe explained how the current funding squeeze has left pharmacies with "a lot of debt" in "a really desperate position". Find out what else she discussed here.

Was it helpful?

psnc

drug pricing

sue sharpe

8 Comments

Question:

What do you think PSNC's priorities should be in 2018?

Mohammed Patel, Community pharmacist

Posted on Tue, 23/01/2018 - 17:02

*This comment has been deleted for breaching C+D's community principles*

Barry Pharmacist, Community pharmacist

Posted on Fri, 19/01/2018 - 13:52

I for one find the way that purchase profit is calculated is not fair. Large buying groups are making way more than single handers. Clawback should be tailored to the overall size of the company.

Z ZZzzzz, Information Technology

Posted on Fri, 19/01/2018 - 19:15

The large vertically integrated groups with pharmacies and a major wholesaler are the ones sucking out any remaining profit from the global sum. That is why the discount clawback scale is so unfair.

Barry Pharmacist, Community pharmacist

Posted on Fri, 19/01/2018 - 13:50

Since you're so good at making money Sunny Jim while the rest of us mere mortals struggle then on you go - send her the first installement. And please do let us know where you are located so we can look at your contractor data and see what a master of pharmacy you are.

Or could it be that you're not a contractor at all but just a troll with bitter feelings towards contractors?

Sunny Jim, Pharmacy Buyer

Posted on Fri, 19/01/2018 - 15:36

Barry, I’ve not got all my eggs in one basket so One business can offset another. The government doesn’t owe me a favour by protecting my income. Stop this constant whining about funding. Go to A/E and see how staff make life and death decisions compared to what is Pharmacists do. PS YOU PUT YOUR DATA online and I’ll follow suit. Locums haven’t had a rise in nearly a decade

Dodo pharmacist, Community pharmacist

Posted on Sat, 20/01/2018 - 11:08

If you had any knowledge at all you would know that every pharmacy’s dispensing data is published on the NHSBSA website. Just let us know your location and we can all view it

Sunny Jim, Pharmacy Buyer

Posted on Thu, 18/01/2018 - 18:14

Sue Sharpe Looks knackered...she’s working too hard for community pharmacy. We should all club together and buy her a nice 3 week holiday to the Maldives. We make more than enough money. I for one have no issues with a cut to funding if it went to A/E departments which are truly struggling this winter .

S Morein, Pharmacy Area manager/ Operations Manager

Posted on Mon, 22/01/2018 - 11:52

She could just go on any one of the plethora of contractors "conferences" that are based in such budget driven places as the Maldives or Vietnam or other such resorts to aid cash strapped contractors finances. After all Manchester or Birmingham would be too expensive