Over time I have been asked more than once by branded Pharma suppliers to give an opinion and ideas on making supply chain changes. On one occasion I was also asked to gather together a representative sample of independent pharmacists to help the company understand the implications of various supply chain change options that they were considering.
In all industries, there is naturally a tendency to follow new trends, particularly if the trends are initiated by one or more of the very largest suppliers. It seems to me that despite such pharmacists and myself providing feedback to the Industry that DTP supply models would create supply problems, once a trend starts no-one is willing to go against it. Admittedly the collapse in sterling versus the Euro since 2009 may have contributed to UK branded supply shortages, but even had that not happened, obtaining branded stock for patients was inevitably going to get harder and more time consuming for pharmacists via DTP models. It is my sense that as the industry did not listen to their concerns over DTP, most community pharmacists now feel even further distanced from the industry that supplies them, than ever before.
The good news is that I believe that there is always a residual opportunity for suppliers who really want to build a closer relationship with pharmacists by supporting them in using their skills and patient contacts for mutual benefit, perhaps via supporting in some way the New Medicines Service or via targeted MURs.
The relationship between the industry and pharmacies feels to be at an all time low. The next step to bridge the gap that has opened up surely has to come from innovators in the Industry, who must be suffering from the currently antagonistic and unhelpful relationship by beginning to work with community pharmacists ?