PSNC has criticised a medicines distributor over reports of missed deliveries.

The negotiator had been “alerted by several pharmacies” to problems receiving deliveries from European distributor Movianto, it claimed last week (June 17). The distributor’s new ordering system had caused “a number of problems”, including orders being delayed and “in some cases not delivered at all”, PSNC said.

Movianto - which delivers to UK pharmacies from warehouses in Bedford and Knowsley - told C+D it had experienced “some problems” due to a “systems conversion” it conducted on June 1. The company had “every expectation that we will return to normal very soon”, as it had “achieved steady improvement since the conversion”, said spokesperson Trudi Allcott.

The distributor had been communicating with its customers throughout the process, and would continue to “make every effort to diligently serve their needs”, Ms Allcott stressed.

PSNC said the issue had affected all products supplied by Movianto. The negotiator had reported the problem to the Department of Health “due to concerns around pharmacies’ ability to supply medication to patients”, it added.

'Test ability to deliver medication speedily'

PSNC chief executive Sue Sharpe warned that “a responsible medicines distributor should never implement a new system without testing its resilience and ability to deliver medication to community pharmacies speedily and readily”.

Movianto had “greatly added” to the “considerable complexities” pharmacies already dealt with when trying to source medicines, said Ms Sharpe. PSNC expected the company “to do all that is necessary to resolve their issues quickly”, she added.

Community Pharmacy Scotland (CPS) also alerted pharmacists to the problem last week after receiving reports of problems from “two or three” members. CPS pharmacy services manager Matt Barclay told C+D that medicines distributors had a “duty to deliver in a timely manner”.

“When they introduce new systems they should be making sure they’re robust and can deliver exactly when they need to. That has obviously not happened on this occasion,” he added.

According to the Movianto Group’s website, the company “expanded rapidly over the last few years” and now has more than 1,900 employers across a network of 20 warehouses in 11 European countries.

Have you experienced delivery problems from Movianto?

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