Born in 1946 and brought up in Cupar, Fife, I was educated at the local school - 
by Chris Lamont, Buchan Observer
CONCERNED pharmacists have spoken out against the decision of a drug corporation to restrict the supply of their medicines to only one supplier for the whole of Scotland.
International drug corporation Pfizer are to change their supply system at the start of next month which will mean all pharmacies throughout the country will be supplied by one company based in Livingston.
Pharmacists fear that this change will have financial implications and affect their quality of service. Pfizer products are currently available to pharmacies from a number of sources but as of March 5 their medicines, which include cholesterol lowering statin Lipitor and Viagra, will only be available from UniChem.
Sarah Purdie, pharmacist at S&N Purdie in New Deer, slammed the decision to make the changes:
"They are changing a distribution system that up until now has worked very well," she said.
"They want more control of their own market and to set their prices to make more money.
"At the moment we get two deliveries a day and one on a Saturday morning but this means all pharmacists opening a UniChem account and I'm not sure how it's going to work.
"It will mean we'll have to hold more stock and that in itself has financial implications."
Currently Purdie's pharmacy can receive a same-day delivery service.
When asked if that will still be possible under the new system Ms Purdie said:
"We have our doubts."
But she was keen to stress that their is no threat to the supply of medicines for patients.
Banff and Buchan MSP Stewart Stevenson was contacted by S&N Purdie regarding the situation and has branded the Pfizer plans a threat to rural community pharmacies. He said:
"Pfizer may be one of the biggest pharmaceutical corporations in the world but it is clear in this case that they have either not understood the situation in the North of Scotland or have deliberately ignored the difficulties they will create for community pharmacies here.
"What we have here is an example of a global corporation riding roughshod over the needs of its customers and dictating not only the terms and conditions of how how community pharmacies should run their business but also who they should give their business to.
"This is unacceptable to me and unacceptable to community pharmacies in my constituency, many of whom have contacted me and are absolutely up in arms at these proposals.
"I am calling on the Health Minister and the Competition Commission to investigate Pfizer's proposals because not only are they anti-competition, they also have the potential to cost the NHS more money in the longer term."
A representative of Pfizer cited patient safety and the level of coverage as the reasons for choosing UniChem. A spokesperson said:
"We wanted to make this change as easy as possible for pharmacy and our original intention was not to work with just one provider.
"However, after intensive discussions with all national UK wholesalers and a competitive appointment process, Pfizer chose to partner with UniChem.
"This was for a number of reasons but mainly because of their shared concerns for patient safety, their operational capabilities and their ability to provide 100% UK coverage."
'Pharmacists fear that this change will have financial implications and affect their quality of service'
to read the original story click on Buchan Observer
Karen Adam is now the MSP for Banffshire and Buchan Coast
