The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 270 No 7248 p638
10 May 2003

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Contract regulation changes to be made

Confirmation that controls over new National Health Service pharmacy contracts in England will be relaxed has been given in the House of Lords.

Lord McIntosh of Haringey made it clear on 1 May that the Government favoured change to open up the pharmacy market and to improve the quality and accessibility of pharmacy services. He added that this would take place without diminishing the crucial role of pharmacies, especially in poorer and rural areas.

Lord McIntosh said that it had not been within the remit of the Office of Fair Trading to examine how mechanisms such as the Essential Small Pharmacy Scheme could be developed to address a more competitive environment, but that issues like this will be examined further. He repeated the Government's intent to propose a package of measures that would promote competition, new pharmacies and increased choice, alongside wider health and social objectives.

Two days before Lord McIntosh's statement, David Lammy, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health, met representatives of Sutton, Merton and Wandsworth Local Pharmaceutical Committee. He told them that he recognised that there were no significant issues over the accessibility of pharmacy services.