From Mr G. Alexander, MRPharmS
SIR,—The open letter to the Secretary of State (PJ, September 4, p361) could not pass without comment from me as chairman of the Enfield and Haringey local pharmaceutical committee.
There is plain factual information in this article. We have all tried and tried with the health authorities but the same negative responses and attitude is commonplace. We have been waiting for scraps at the door! If Mr Dobson thinks his civil servants are feeding him the right information then he should think again, move them sideways or sack them. They gave their previous Tory masters the same old disinterested story. The actions of successive governments — Tory and Labour alike — are wrecking our dependable public service profession of community pharmacy.
Our patience is wearing thin and our co-operation with Government is not mandatory.
Mr Blair's latest crusade to match European statistics and reduce teenage pregnancies could well involve asking our profession to participate in providing morning-after contraceptive treatment via the access to our nation's 10,500 pharmacies. We should think quid pro quo.
Gerald Alexander
London N9