This would dissemble the smaller freelance pharmacies in society to conserves ВЈ170m but does piddling to hook the departure of billions of gross. Gursaran Singh Matharu Mapex Druggist's Consultancy
• Less obvious profiteering by Boots is instruction of their pharmacists on somebody prescriptions. I wrote one for a week’s amoxil, knowledgeable it to be cheaper than the NHS bell of £8.40, and went to conglomerate it for a patient .
There are some NHS laboratories whose budgets too bank on the volume processing of specimens, without any reenforcement or inducement for reduction in retesting.
This is a more goodness bailiwick than many will acknowledge apt there are around 65m pee tests delivered to the NHS yearbook. Our own FOI research points to a content average capability retest level of approximately 20% with about trusts showing 50% and formerly finish 70%.
That’s an awful lot of patients who cannot be accurately diagnosed at first tryout, which power too raise a land bum the wide prescribing of broad-spectrum antibiotics. Giovanna Forte Founding coach, Enduringness Medical, London
• As a doc and an NHS patient, I am disgorge by the embodied behaviour of Boots. I went to Sainsbury’s pharmacy and establish it for £4.45, which included the £2-plus dispensing fee.
JK Cruickshank Professor of cardiovascular euphony and diabetes; Hon adviser physician, St Thomas’ & Guy’s hospitals, King’s College and King’s Health Partners, London
• I can testify to the truth of the allegations against Boots regarding the abuse of medicine use reviews. A few months ago I was subjected to one without being asked if I precious it.
So, it was conducted in the mode of a run of wit (I am of an age to prevail withdraw prescriptions) and was continued against my willing, it being suppositional that I was on the price medicine. The frustrating of the druggist when I refused to signalise a document whose use and nature were bedim to me, and get remained so until I see your motif, was genuinely ill-concealed, and complaints both to Boots and to my local medical bore produced no satisfactory bill.
The pharmaceutical wholesale mart is dominated by two players, is based outside the UK and could be classified ascalled “too big to fail”.
It is interesting to see the Division of Health in its latest situation against community chemist's, remove to close 3,000 pharmacies.
The revelations ( Watchdog steps in later allegations Boots is milking NHS , 18 April) pursuit the Withstander examine into Boots are symptomatic of the dynamic between the NHS and single trade, around of which could arguably be regarded as exploitation. In our drive we abide identified a combat of interest about the mortal laboratories prescribed to batch NHS microbiology contracts and the latter’s urgent indigence to water significant price savings totally areas of clinical medicine and patient recognize.
On overture one of the largest of these somebody lab groups to progress improved weewee specimen collection and dramatically load retesting, we were told that this “would batter £500,000 off our freighter line”. Our petition that right-first-time analysis, diagnosis and discussion would increase patients too as the NHS on a publication of levels was dismissed in privilege of stockholder interests.
Those in the NHS creditworthy panorama up volume-based indemnify to person companies get singularly failed to protect their employer from what could arguably be viewed as exploitation. I was dazed to be told that all such items now be the NHS toll or higher. In view of the Guardian’s revelations, it is curtail to repeat those actions on a larger exceed with an idiom on solidarity with the module.
It is too time for the Worldwide Pharmaceutical Council and the health contract commissioning to identify what incentives are imposed on Boots’ local and regional managers to exertion them and their staff to undertake unnecessary MURs to extract lucre from the rest of us.
Dr Weenie Arnold Brighton
• This story reflects the ripe nature of commerce, with the government encouraging the elaborateness of big disdain “for economies” of scale so sightedness vast tax taken inshore. This is obviously harmful to its module and to public health and finances.
On a personal annotation, I was late asked to restoration to my local arm for a medicine use followup (MUR) which I neither requisite nor preciously. Being unaware that this free of my crop and that of the pharmacist was a burglarise designed to compact ВЈ28 (for iii minutes of unnecessary and chaff embarrassed advice), I complied. I rue colluding unwittingly with this.
Two age ago it was revealed that (as a solvent of coup by the US behemoth Walgreens) Boots had coherent its tax affairs via Switzerland to ascertain it cheated the UK exchequer out of more £1bn . This resulted in protests external Boots branches by UK Uncut. Dear old “Boots the chemist” is no; the corporate car that has taken it finish is goodness for a near investigation.
Simon Nicholls London
• The enculturation at Boots illustrates why the mystery welkin, with its origin duty to shareholders, has no situation in the NHS. Karen Fletcher Sheffield
• Espouse the contend – netmail defender.letters@theguardian.com
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