The NPA has published wholesaler service standards that will allow members to assess how well their wholesalers are performing and give the Association a picture of wholesaler performance across the board.

Surcharges, short-dated stock and quotas were among the issues that emerged strongly in a three-month consultation involving over 700 pharmacies. The standards use five domains to assess wholesalers: fairness, responsiveness, timely communication, efficiency and transparency.

NPA public affairs manager Gareth Jones said: “Our members can use the standards and the online tool for their own information and to empower them in discussion with their wholesaler. The standards help pharmacists to describe with clarity which areas of service they are unhappy with, and also to describe and acknowledge good service.”

Executive director of the British Association of Pharmaceutical Wholesalers Martin Sawer said: “BAPW and its members welcome all feedback on services to a key customer group. We believe that BAPW wholesalers and distributors provide a world class, efficient and resilient service on behalf of the NHS, distributing 2 billion different healthcare items per year.”

Members’ wholesaler assessments will be used to assess performance against 22 markers across the five domains. Markers include:

• Fairness: the wholesaler provides a system that allows a pharmacy to avoid inadvertently triggering a low spend surcharge
• Efficiency: the wholesaler promptly supplies relevant invoices and refunds.