The Healthcare Distribution Association has called on the Labour government to treat pharmaceutical wholesalers “as a special case” when it considers how best to reform business rates.

As businesses across the UK wait for detailed plans on what Labour intends to do, having pledged to replace the business rates system in England so it can “raise the same revenue but in a fairer way,” the HDA insisted companies responsible for distributing medicines should not be “conflated with other warehouse-based sectors who do not provide life-saving treatments for high street pharmacies, patients and the NHS.”

Outlining what it described as “quick fixes” for a supply chain it insisted was “fit for purpose,” the HDA said paperless invoicing should be used throughout the medicines supply chain and global manufacturers should be incentivised to supply the UK so there are enough medicines in community pharmacy. The HDA also said NHS Hospitals “should be mandated to pay for medicines in a timely manner.”

The HDA warned healthcare distributors were facing “significant delays” to the controlled drug licensing process and urged the government to fix it as well as re-evaluate regulatory requirements covering the temperature control of ambient medicines during transportation. Calling for the electrification of delivery fleets, the HDA said the medicines distribution network “urgently” needed “robust electric vehicle charging infrastructure.”

The HDA also urged Labour to provide more funding to ensure the medicines supply chain has enough skilled staff to “match rising demand.”

The HDA warned: “These immediate and sustained actions are crucial to revitalising the medicines distribution sector and ensuring that the UK retains its resilient, efficient, and sustainable healthcare system.”