In article <[log in to unmask]>, Guy Watkins
<[log in to unmask]> writes
>>> Of course, one does need other, non-profit outlets where condoms are
>>> free, eg youth clubs, FP and GU clinics, etc as well as, possibly, GP
>>> surgeries.
>>
>>How very sensible!
>>
>>Does anyone have any figures on the likely costs of such a scheme?
>
>My surgery is not non-profit making - as that is how I get paid. If I
>employ more staff to give out condoms (and the required advice) then I
>am less profit making - and poorer. Although the scheme suggested
>clearly has many merits I would like my costs to be remembered too!
>
Agreed, perhaps I did not make myself clear. The difference between a
GP practice and a pharmacy is that the practice's profits are not simply
determined by a margin on products (eg condoms) which you sell/give
away/prescribe to your patients. The pharmacy's profit is _entirely_
determined by "item of service" payments, ie the margin on individual
products sold (and, for good, measure, for non-prescription items the
patient and the payer/customer are the same person). This is a very
different system from the one you operate. It means that a price tag
which includes a profit element is the simplest and most effective way
of providing an incentive to the pharmacy to shift larger quantities of
any given product.
I do agree that if GP practices are to provide free condoms then they
may require some kind of health promotion funding to cover the costs of
the staff time (and condoms) involved.
--
Hilary Curtis, Executive Director, BMA Foundation for AIDS
http://www.bmaids.demon.co.uk/
Education for HIV/AIDS policy, prevention and professional practice
BMA House, Tavistock Square, London WC1H 9JP, UK
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