UK Dept of Health guidance on medicine supply gets mixed response

New guidance to tackle medicine supply shortages in the UK’s National Health Service was published yesterday by the Department of Health. The guidance - Best Practice for Ensuring the Efficient Supply and Distribution of Medicines to Patients - is the result of months of work with stakeholders throughout the supply chain. It sets out in writing procedures to help ensure UK patients can obtain their medication.

The guidance is welcomed by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) as a step in the right direction. But the ABPI warned there is still much to be done to ensure UK patients do not lose out because of the activities of a minority in the supply chain trading medicines for profit, exploiting the low cost of UK drugs and fluctuating exchange rates.

“Stronger govt action needed”