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	The Pharmaceutical Journal Vol 270 No 7238 p300-301 1 March 2003	This page Reprint Photocopy
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Letters to the Editor

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Supermarket pharmacy

Supermarkets are not the great ogre

Extended provision?

Supermarkets are not the great ogre

From Mr J. V. Wilson, MRharmS

We pharmacists seem to be, in the words of Robert Burns, "wee, cowrin', tim'rous beasties"', who always have need of a great ogre to fear. The great ogre's role, in our nightmares, is to destroy community pharmacy as we know and love it. When I qualified, nigh on four decades ago, the great ogre was Boots. Now, it is the supermarkets. Following my recent article in praise of supermarket pharmacy, I was pleased to have incurred the delight of P. K. Ball (PJ, 22 February, p265) and the ire of Jim Downing (ibid, p266).

It is not I who has missed the point, but Mr Downing. A careful re-reading of my article will show that supermarket pharmacy has much to offer professionally, while at the same time offering, I believe, relatively little threat to the rest of the profession. I did, though, emphasise that the rate-limiting step for supermarket pharmacies will be the availability of sufficient pharmacist cover. However, in the four years or so that the supermarket pharmacy in which I occasionally work has been operating, it has not, to my knowledge, had to close because of the lack of pharmacist cover.

I challenge Mr Downing to do a locum at his nearest supermarket pharmacy. He may be pleasantly surprised by the experience.

John Wilson
Arnold, Nottinghamshire

Extended provision?

From Mr P. A. McCree, MRPharmS

We have just been approached by our local Superdrug branch to take over its Easter Sunday rota duty. This branch is located in a city-centre, enclosed shopping mall and it is not commercially viable to open it for this. Here is another example where the much vaunted (by the Office of Fair Trading) extended provision by supermarkets falls down.

Usually we are more than willing to co-operate with our pharmacy neighbours, but in the present situation I do not believe we would be acting in the long-term interest of patients. I have politely refused. I hope my colleagues will support our protest.

Peter McCree
Superintendent Pharmacist
Lincoln Co-op Chemist Ltd

DAVID CLARK, head of pharmacy, Superdrug Stores Plc, replies

Thank you for allowing me to respond to the letter from Peter McCree. It is a shame that Mr McCree has chosen to take this course of action as, in the past, I understand that arrangements to swop rotas have worked well. The co-operation he refers to in his letter has been much appreciated not only by Superdrug, but also by the customers who have benefited from the arrangement.

As we are not a supermarket, I would not wish to be drawn on his remarks about their service provision. However, I will say that since most people in Lincoln know that the Waterside Centre is closed on Easter Sunday, being able to swop the rota with another more accessible local pharmacy has in the past been to the benefit of patients. This is not a question of commercial viability, it is one of patient access, and we believe that we have been acting in the best interests of patients in this regard.

If we are unable to swop the rota, then, of course, we will meet our obligations and provide the service anyway.

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