Save our pharmacies

Edward Davey discussing the threat to community pharmacies

Kingston’s NHS faces a fresh threat: plans that could shut local pharmacies.

Yet the NHS relies heavily on community pharmacies. The local chemist’s wise words saves people trips to their GP – and saves the NHS huge amounts of time and money.

Office of Fair Trading

So when the Office of Fair Trading – a Government competition body – recommended reforms to the high street pharmacy sector, I expected analysis of the impact on the NHS’s frontline. Yet the report took a narrower approach, with inappropriate business models. It would permit all large supermarkets to start pharmacies, damaging the precarious finances of community pharmacies.

It’s bad enough we’ve already lost local shops like butchers and greengrocers. It’s dreadful some post offices are being shut. But the loss of local pharmacies could be even more damaging.

When people feel ill, especially elderly and disabled people, do we really want to force them to travel into town centres – or more often out of town – to get their prescriptions or pharmacist’s advice?

The Government will come forward with proposals this summer. Read the DTI comments on the OFT report.

Read the full report of the OFT investigation.

What can we do?

A few weeks ago I handed a petition signed by thousands of local people into the Department of Trade and Industry and asked questions in Parliament against these plans. The initial response was encouraging, but unfortunately the final decision has been put off.

The petition is not over! You can still sign it below.