Graham reports back from Friends of Scholes Park meeting
Cheadle and Gatley Liberal Democrats
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Graham reports back from Friends of Scholes Park meeting
Gatley's Lucy Boxes
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Cuts to community pharmacies delayed by Government
by Lib Dem Team on 20 September, 2016
Thank you to everyone who signed the petition calling for a Parliamentary debate on Conservative plans to cut community pharmacy funding. The national petition attracted more than 68,000 signatures.
The cuts would not have been a problem for the big pharmacy chains like Boots, but would mean many small independent pharmacies closing. It’s estimated that the proposals would see 100 small community pharmacies close across Greater Manchester.
The Government has quietly announced that the planned cuts are to be delayed and will now not happen in October. There is a chance that the cuts will be reduced or not happen at all.
Pharmacy magazine reports:
1 CommentPharmacy minister David Mowat confirmed yesterday, in a short pre-recorded video message at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s annual conference, that the Government’s planned implementation of the 6 per cent cut to community pharmacy funding in October would be delayed to “make sure that we are making the correct decision and that what we do is going to be right for you, right for the NHS and right for the public.”
Mr Mowat did not specify when next steps around the funding cut would be announced.
The minister praised the recently published Community Pharmacy Forward View as “an extremely good document” that “rightly recognises” the need for community pharmacy to move further away from dispensing into the services area. The core principles set out in the document were “spot-on” and “there’s a big contribution [pharmacists] can make in areas such as long-term conditions”. The quality of the document does testimony to the contribution your profession can make, he added.
Alphega Pharmacy, Ashfield Crescent, Cheadle, is open long hours, 7 days per week and therefore fills a gap that is conspicuously not addressed by either of the multiples in the village. It is extremely useful for the provision of first aid items at evenings and weekends, especially the rarely used ones that are not kept in the average domestic first aid box. As a retired pharmacist, I keep a reasonable stock at home but it is not possible to cover every eventuality. If Alphega closed, I might well find it necessary to call out the ambulance to A & E if I had received an injury that prevented safe driving and would not be welcomed by the driver of a taxi. Hence keeping small pharmacies open can save making calls on publicly-funded emergency facilities.