The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 270 No 7254 p849
21 June 2003

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Hansard (more)
Royal College of Physicians oxygen therapy guidelines (more)
Oxygen services review (more)

Pharmacy oxygen services likely to be scrapped

Community pharmacy oxygen contracts are to be abandoned in England following a surprise announcement in the House of Commons, and leading to a protest from the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee.

On 12 June, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health David Lammy said that responsibility for long-term oxygen prescribing will be taken away from general practitioners and given to hospital consultants. Provision will then be made through specialist contractors and not community pharmacies. GPs will continue to prescribe oxygen for patients who only require small amounts.

A specification for the new service is to be drawn up over the next few months, after which specialist contractors will be asked to tender for services to be introduced in 2005.

The unexpected announcement has angered the PSNC, which has protested to the Department of Health saying that the proposed new service has been launched without consultation and puts current patient services at risk.

The committee has asked for an opportunity to discuss the scheme with the DoH and will seek compensation for pharmacy contractors who have invested in equipment and infrastructure to provide the present service.

Although there has been no consultation on the change, the proposals are based on a 1999 report the Royal College of Physicians. The views of a number of organisations, including the PSNC and the National Pharmaceutical Association were invited by the Government the following year.