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What do you think of your wholesalers' service standards, asks Gareth Jones, NPA public affairs manager

THE NPA HAS LAUNCHED a member consultation on pharmaceutical wholesaler service standards. The purpose is to:

• Gather data about wholesaler service standards generally, against the backdrop of limited distribution and direct-to-pharmacy supply arrangements
• Create tools with which NPA members can measure and benchmark the performance of their wholesaler/s. NPA members will then be in a better position to challenge poor service or acknowledge good service €“ and to make informed choices, where choice exists
• Inform wholesalers about how their service is viewed by NPA members.

Our starting point is to ask members to endorse or modify the performance framework laid out in our consultation document. We suggest the following as service principles against which to assess performance:

• Fairness (e.g. any surcharges should be proportionate and linked to the value of service provided)
• Responsiveness (e.g. responding promptly to queries or complaints)
• Timely communication (e.g. proactively notifying a pharmacy at the point of ordering if the wholesaler is unable to supply a product)
• Efficiency (e.g. reliable, regular and frequent supply)
• Transparency (e.g. describing in detail why a quota has been set at a certain level).

NPA members can answer consultation questions on the NPA website.

The NPA is now consulting on wholesaler service standards

Positive developments

Members can also access a medicines supply chain toolkit (see last month's column), which includes a branded product availability chart (showing which wholesalers supply the product of those manufacturers that use direct-to-pharmacy or restricted wholesaler schemes), a list of the medicines currently subject to supply problems and a patient leaflet explaining the background to medicines shortages, in the event of difficulties supplying to a patient in a timely fashion.

The wholesaler consultation and the toolkit both result from recommendations of the Manifesto for Independent Community Pharmacy task groups. A manifesto progress report will be presented at the NPA conference in London on Sunday June 8. NPA members can register at www.npa.co.uk/conference2014.