1. Are the pharmacy services in-house or outsourced? (proceed to Section I if in-house and Section II if outsourced). If part of the services are in-house (tendered through the Department of Health / NHS frameworks) and part outsourced (for example for outpatients), please answer both parts.
2. Who are your suppliers for:
2.1. Clozapine (antipsychotic)
2.2. Fluoxetine (antidepressant)
2.3. Lithium carbonate (anticonvulsant)
Section I – in-house pharmacy
1. Did the trust tender through the Department of Health’s Commercial Medicines Unit (CMU)?
a. If not, tendered through CMU:
i. How did the trust / hospital tender?
ii. Who applied to fill the tender?
iii. What were the tender criteria?
iv. Why was the chosen supplier awarded the contract?
v. Is the chosen supplier the trust’s de-facto supplier?
vi. What is the annual cost of the contract?
b. If tendered through CMU:
i. How many suppliers are engaged with the hospitals to provide pharmaceuticals?
ii. On average, what discounts does the supplier offer vs. the retail price?
2. Delivery of pharmaceuticals:
a. How often do you get deliveries from pharmaceutical suppliers?
b. Is the delivery a fixed amount of each contracted drug or is it based on the hospital’s stock of the drug i.e. more frequently used drugs are delivered in larger quantities and more frequently by the supplier?
c. Is the stock of each drug monitored manually on an Excel sheet or electronically via a specialised software?
i. If monitored by specialist software, who is the provider of said software?
3. Current provider:
a. Has / have the current providers always been the suppliers of pharmaceuticals for the hospital for more than 3 years?
i. If not, who was the previous supplier?
ii. Why were the old supplier’s contract not renewed?
Section II – Outsourced pharmacy
1. Current provider:
a. Who is the current provider of your outsourced pharmacy services?
b. Are they the de-facto provider for all pharmaceutical needs? If not, could you list the other providers?
c. How did the hospital contract the current provider?
i. What is the duration of the contract?
ii. What were the key terms of the contract that the supplier had to meet?
iii. How many suppliers applied for the contract?
iv. Has / have the current providers always been the suppliers of pharmaceuticals for the hospital for more than 3 years?
1. If not, who was the previous supplier?
2. Why were the old supplier’s contract not renewed?
d. On average, what discounts does the supplier offer vs. the retail price?
e. How often do you get deliveries from pharmaceutical suppliers?
f. Is the delivery a fixed amount of each contracted drug or is it based on the hospital’s stock of the drug i.e. more frequently used drugs are delivered in larger quantities and more frequently by the supplier?
g. Is the stock of each drug monitored manually on an Excel sheet or electronically via a specialised software?
i. If monitored by specialist software, who is the provider of said software?
