§ Mr. Harold Walkerasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will require pharmacists to inform 558W customers where a drug is available over the counter more cheaply than the price to the customer of the equivalent drug prescribed in a National Health Service prescription.
§ Mr. Geoffrey FinsbergA pharmacist's National Health Service terms of service require him to dispense only in accordance with an order written on a prescription form signed by a doctor or a dentist. If, however, a medicine prescribed can be supplied without a prescription at a price below any charge due under the NHS, the pharmacist can, if he wishes, inform the patient of this fact.
Any extension of these limited arrangements must await the Government's conclusions on the report of the informal working group on effective prescribing and I will ensure that this suggestion is taken into account.
§ Mr. Harold Walkerasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what criteria his Department use in determining target prices for the purposes of the drug tariff; if he will make the target prices for all drugs approved by his Department available to hon. Members; and, pursuant to the letter of 21 February to the right hon. Member for Doncaster, what is the target price for glycerol trinitrate.
§ Mr. Geoffrey FinsbergThe criteria used for determining drug tariff target prices for those generic drugs that are widely prescribed and generally available involve the calculation of a weighted average price based on the trade prices of several established manufacturers of generic drugs, whose products are available nationwide. Drug tariff prices for prescribed branded preparations are the trade prices charged by their manufacturers. All these prices are subject to adjustment under the reimbursement arrangements for the pharmacies which dispense the drugs. This adjustment is achieved by withholding a percentage from the ingredient costs reimbursed, to cover discounts and other advantageous terms obtained by pharmacies. The withholding operates on a sliding scale according to monthly turnover, and is subject to review when the results of periodic inquiries into reimbursement are known. One such inquiry is under way at present.
I am sending the right hon. Member a copy of the 1982 drug tariff, with amendments, and am having a further copy placed in the Library. This statutory publication explains the terms for reimbursement and remuneration of pharmacists contracted to the National Health Service, and is issued free to prescribers as well as pharmacists. The prices that the right hon. Member seeks are on pages 18–42 and the withholding (discount) scale is on page 128. The 1983 drug tariff is now being printed:
The current drug tariff prices for glycerold trinitrate are:
Pence 300 micrograms, per 100 tablets 62 500 micrograms, per 100 tablets 41 600 micrograms, per 100 tablets 56