§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he intends to implement the proposals made to him by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry to terminate the parallel import of drugs.
§ Mr. HayhoeI am not aware of any such proposals from the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry.
§ Mr. Cyril D. Townsendasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what changes are intended in National Health Service pharmaceutical prices and distribution costs from 1 April; what are his intentions for the recovery of discounts on parallel import drugs; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. HayhoeThere will be no general change in the manufacturers' prices of medicines covered by the pharmaceutical price regulation scheme (PPRS) until the present negotiations for a renewal of the scheme are completed and the changes thus agreed are implemented. These negotiations continue, with a view to introducing a renewed scheme during 1986–87.
572WThe majority of NHS medicines are subject to control under the PPRS, but prices reimbursed to pharmacies for generic medicines are determined separately. Agreement has been reached with representatives of generic manufacturers on a number of changes, which will reduce the average NHS price of generic medicines. Agreement has also been reached with representatives of NHS community pharmacies for an interim increase of 1.5 per cent. in the average rate of deduction from their reimbursement to reflect the discounts now widely obtainable on the published prices of pharmaceutical products generally. The new rates of discount recovery will average nearly 7.5 per cent. and are subject to revision in the light of the results of a full inquiry into discount levels which will start shortly and be completed by early 1987. Details of the changes in generic prices and the discount recovery scale will be published in the April amendment to the drug tariff. Taken together, these changes should bring a saving of nearly £30 million in NHS expenditure.
I also intend to establish an informal working group involving representatives of manufacturers, wholesalers and NHS retail pharmacies which will assess more generally and for the longer term the arrangements for the financial regulation of NHS pharmaceutical distribution. I have invited the interests concerned to nominate members of the working group, and hope to appoint an independent chairman. I expect the group to report this summer.
Estimates from various sources suggest that parallel imports account for a small fraction of NHS medicines. All discounts on both domestic and parallel imported drugs will be identified by the discount inquiry. When this information is available I will consider how to modify the reimbursement system to ensure that the arrangements are fair to all concerned.