Medical sales controversy drugs and politics

However, the industry, and the jobs within it, will have to change and reshape to deal with the changes in the industry at large.

The root cause of the problems is very simple, there is an increasing demand for healthcare in the UK, and a diminishing resources. The public expect more and more, the government want to pay less and less, and in the middle of all this is the pharmaceutical industry which has to make a profit.

In recent years, this has become an impossible equation to balance. Even though it is perfectly clear that the funds really aren't available to ensure a flawless and free healthcare system in the UK, it's politically unacceptable to say this either if you are in power or in opposition. There are obvious solutions looking around the world at other healthcare set ups.

Perhaps one of the most common solutions is a healthcare system which is partially private. If I ever dare suggest this at a dinner party, you can see temperatures visibly rise usually generating the comment that the NHS was set up to be free. The harsh reality is that nothing provided by the government is really free, we collectively pay for services through taxes. There is no problem increasing the provision of healthcare, so long as you're happy with higher taxes.

If you are Gordon Brown, you really do have a terrible catch 22. The scales are clearly continuing to tip further and further with demand soaring and resources shrinking. Any kind of move to a partial privatisation would be certain political suicide, as would the hoick in taxes required to resolve issues. But the fact remains that if the British people want more and more from the Healthcare system, they will have to pay for it somewhere, whether it be higher taxes, or insurance to cover a privatised healthcare system, or of course we could stick with using corridors as wards and extend waiting lists by another year or so!

There has been one futile attempt to reduce the financial burden on the NHS, it's called the PPRS (Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme). This is a scheme where every so often the government announces a previously undisclosed reduction in the prices of pharmaceuticals which it then enforces on pharmaceutical companies. As a businessman I find this an absurd way to treat some of UK Ltd's flagship companies. Business is a difficult balancing act of costs and income carefully mixed up to try and make a profit. I don't know how businesses in the UK generally would react if the government announced it would enforce a price reduction periodically in a way that was out of their control?

The reality is, pharmaceutical companies will, of course, need to make adjustments somewhere else to recoup and make a profit. The day after the last PPRS announcement, a major UK pharmaceutical decided to move it's UK R & D plant worth £400M per annum to Uk Ltd, and a bundle of jobs to India. Firstly to compensate for their loss, but also in protest, a complete own goal for UK Ltd. The drugs budget within the NHS is only 7% of the total NHS spend, and so the saving on this actually has very little impact on the bigger picture financially, although it carries heavy political gravitas publicising the governments harsh stance on 'fat cat' pharmaceutical companies.

Until a political titan is prepared to stand up in public and fall on his sword in saying how it really is, the healthcare system in the UK is likely to decline, and the pharmaceutical industry is likely to feel more and more squeeze from government attempts to reduce costs, as this is the only thing they can do whilst failing to act on the reality that the NHS in it's present form is not a viable business!

If you have a a view on this subject, please do e-mail it to us at info@pharmacareers.co.uk and we will publish your comments.