To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect of the reduction in the number of community pharmacies in England of (a) five, (b) 10, (c) 25 per cent on the number of patients (i) seeking a GP appointment and (ii) attending accident and emergency units.
Answered on
18 October 2016
The Government’s proposals for community pharmacy in 2016/17 and beyond, on which we have consulted, are being considered against the public sector equality duty, the family test and the relevant duties of my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health under the National Health Service Act 2006.
Our assessments include impacts on other NHS services. An impact assessment will be completed to inform final decisions and published in due course.
Our proposals are about improving services for patients and the public and securing efficiencies and savings. We believe these efficiencies can be made within community pharmacy without compromising the quality of services or public access to them.
Our aim is to ensure that those community pharmacies upon which people depend continue to thrive. We are consulting on the introduction of a Pharmacy Access Scheme, which will provide more NHS funds to certain pharmacies compared with others, considering factors such as location and the health needs of the local population.