The price concession for Atorvastatin 80mg has been increased to £3.91 from the previously set £3.45 for prescriptions dispensed in July, the Community Pharmacy England has said. The Department of Health and Social Care additionally introduced a concession price of £3.38 for Atorvastatin 20mg.
"In July, our Dispensing and Supply Team experienced an unusually high influx of reports from pharmacies struggling to acquire Atorvastatin 80mg tablets at the listed Drug Tariff price," said CPE.
CPE requested a price concession early in the month. However, after extended discussions, an agreement on the price wasn't reached. Consequently, on July 31st, the DHSC imposed a concession of £3.45.
Addressing enduring pharmacy concerns over the pricing, CPE intensified advocacy with DHSC. This endeavour resulted in the revision of the Atorvastatin 80mg tablet concession price to £3.91 for prescriptions submitted and dispensed in July.
According to CPE, this adjusted price sufficiently covers costs as reported by the majority of pharmacy owners.
However, DHSC has refrained from modifying concessionary prices for the other two requested lines by CPE. DHSC communicated that their team's data collection for July, employing real-time sales and volume data, was incongruent with the adjustment of these prices, CPE further said.
On July 10th, during a Parliamentary drop-in event, CPE briefed MPs about the instability that imposes operational pressures on pharmacies and financial strains on businesses.
In a recent sector survey by CPE, community pharmacy owners identified medicines supply instability as the most pressing challenge affecting their businesses. This reflects CPE's Pressures Survey, where 97 per cent of surveyed pharmacy owners are encountering notable increases in wholesaler and medicine supply challenges. Additionally, 71 per cent of respondents noted that these issues were leading to prescription issuance delays.
