More facts needed on Royal Surrey NHS Drug Deals says Doughty

10.09.00am GMT Wed 17th Feb 2010

Sue believes there are a number of questions that need to be answered in light of recent information on the sale of NHS drugs in Europe.

Commenting on the news that the Royal Surrey County Hospital has been selling NHS drugs in Europe Sue Doughty said, "There are many questions which need answering about this issue before we can draw a line under it:

Why was the Foundation able to continue selling drugs until January this year despite the Department of Health stating that this practise is unacceptable?

Why did the hospital need to do this?

What was Monitor's understanding of the situation in the run up to the hospital securing Foundation status?

Which other hospitals have done this?

What drugs have been sold and why did they refuse to provide a list of these drugs to the Health Service Journal?

What consideration was given to the impact that this might have on the NHS price structures for drugs in the future?

Has the diversion of NHS drugs onto other markets affected patient care locally?

Sue said: "I'm a great supporter of the Royal Surrey which does fantastic work but this practise should never have been started. Hospitals must be adequately funded in the first place, and run efficiently. It is worrying that this trading only stopped because of the short term accountancy need came to an end, and because of the negative publicity."

Lib Dem Shadow Health Secretary Norman Lamb has been demanding an end to this the exporting of NHS drugs to profit from exchange rates. Following his challenge to the Health Minister in November the government stated that clear guidance had been issued to Primary Care Trusts on this.

You can read the original story in the Health Service Journal by clicking on the link below.

Related Link:

Health Service Journal's piece on this story from 16th February 2010.