The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 270 No 7239 p323
8 March 2003

This article
Reprint
Photocopy

News summary

Related websites
OFT report, news & related links (more)

Former OFT director calls deregulation "a jump in the dark"

Lord Borrie, a former Director General of Fair Trading, has called the Office of Fair Trading recommendation that control of entry be removed from community pharmacies "a jump in the dark" that risks reducing easy access to pharmacies.

Speaking at a seminar organised by the Patients Association in London this week, Lord Borrie said that risks should not be taken with the health of the nation by ending control of entry. "Pharmacists have a vital role to play in the delivery of health services and they should not be sacrificed on the altar of dogma. While public interest is best served by maximum competition in the marketplace, there are sometimes countervailing arguments," he said.

"The consequences of deregulation are admitted by the OFT as uncertain. Deregulation would be, in my view, a jump in the dark. To my mind, the risk of less easy access is too great to justify what is being suggested," he added.

The OFT report views accessibility not only in terms of location, but also in terms of the longer hours that supermarkets remain open. However, Lord Borrie pointed out that it would not be of great benefit to the elderly, for whom most items are dispensed, to be able to get their medicines at 2am. "I urge the Government to ensure the preservation and continuation of control of entry regulations in some form," he said.