The British Association of Pharmaceutical Wholesalers has called on the Department of Health (DH) to delay by one month the implementation of the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme (PPRS) which is due to come into effect in January 2014. BAPW Chief Execute Martin Sawer warned that wholesalers would require an extra month to sell excess medicines that had been bought at higher prices in December or they would have to reduce their stock holding of less profitable medicines in order to recoup the lost investment, which could lead to frustration by pharmacists who would either get charged more for these medicines or experience difficulties in obtaining them.
PPRS is an annual review of prices where actual price revisions are implemented every five years based upon negotiations between the Department of Health and the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI).