Plymouth pharmacist says she took out loan to pay for NHS medicine

A pharmacist in Devon has said she had to take out a loan to repay her medicine wholesaler as she does not make enough money selling prescriptions.

Esi Kumordzi, who runs the DA Tubb pharmacy in Plymouth, said her business had become unsustainable due to the difference between what the NHS gives her per drug and how much they cost her to buy.

The National Pharmacists Association said a survey found 85% of members were making a loss on NHS medicines.

The Department for Health and Social Care said there were “safeguards in place if purchase prices for a given drug increase”.

Pharmacies buy their medicines from wholesalers and get reimbursed a set amount per prescription from the NHS, but Mrs Kumordzi said those fees had not risen since 2016.

She said she took out a loan to cover the growing costs in 2023 and said she would leave the NHS if she had the option.

The NHS uses a drug tariff for reimbursements, but it often does not cover the moving prices, Mrs Kumordzi said.

It decides each month which ones it will reimburse at higher rates, but this does not always cover the cost to the pharmacy, she said.

The government said community pharmacy reimbursement arrangements did not guarantee to reimburse each contractor for every item as much or more than the cost to secure the product.

However, it said they were reimbursed much as much as is allowed in the medicine margin – the difference between the reimbursement price paid to the pharmacy by the NHS for dispensing the product.

Mrs Kumordzi said: “It’s virtually impossible to run a pharmacy business at this time, you are literally out of pocket every time you hand out a prescription.

“The NHS reimburses the cost of the drug at £1.27 professional fee per item.

“All our outgoings and salaries are being paid out of that.

“It’s impossible to run a business when you are paying £3 or £4 above what the NHS is willing to pay you.”

Mrs Kumordzi said she did not want to have to get a personal loan to cover the costs.

“I haven’t been able to finish paying up that loan, I have a lot of it to pay,” she said.

“I feel if I had a way of leaving the NHS altogether, I would take that option.”

The Department for Health and Social Care said: “This government inherited a broken NHS but is committed to expanding the role of pharmacists, making better use of the skills of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians.

“We already reimburse community pharmacies for what they spend on drugs and provide additional funding for the services they provide.

“There are also safeguards in place if purchase prices for a given drug increase.”

The National Pharmacy Association said a survey of 500 pharmacies found 64% of respondents were using savings or support from family members to keep their pharmacy running, while 85% of respondents said they were making a net loss on NHS prescribing.