Moves afoot in the Department of Health to make health services more responsive to patients may undermine the current system for deciding whether, and where, new pharmacies are allowed to open.
On November 4, the Minister of State for Health (Mr John Denham) announced a Department of Health review that would see "barriers to genuine public and patient involvement in primary care broken down".
Speaking at a meeting of the NHS Alliance in London, Mr Denham said that the NHS needed to be a service which instilled confidence and reassurance in those that used it.
"The most effective way to do this is simply to listen to what patients and the public have to say about health services and to take their views into account when shaping local services."
A Department spokesman told The Journal on November 9 that the review would look at "all aspects of the Department's work".
Currently, decisions on whether new pharmacies should be allowed to open with National Health Service contracts are based on whether the proposed new pharmacy is necessary or desirable for the proper provision of pharmaceutical services. This can mean that health authorities decline to grant a new contract even though patients in a specific locality want a new pharmacy. Existing pharmacies often oppose new applications because of the dilution effect on their commercial viability.
The Journal understands that the view at the Department is that, although technical and strategic issues make it difficult to see what public input into contract allocation is possible, there should be public involvement when health authorities and primary care trusts are making their pharmaceutical arrangements.