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The Profession
Pharmacies may suffer same fate as post offices
From Mr P. S. S. Badham, MRPharmS
I wish to bring to the attention of your readers the desperate plight
community post offices are now suffering. Currently there are 9,000 post
offices, 3,000 of which are to close.
You may ask what this has got to do with the future of pharmacy — I
believe a great deal.
Pharmacies and post offices are equally important to local communities — they
are both essential service providers and they both underpin local shopping
centres.
I believe that it will only be a matter of time before we witness the
same fate for pharmacies. The proposed changes to the control of entry
regulations, if adopted, will ensure prescriptions are taken out of the
existing community pharmacy network at source, either by doctors, consortia
pharmacies, or contractors who have used the new open door policy to
the granting of chemist contracts.
Clearly the Government welcomes a 30 per cent fall in the number of post
offices. Why should it take any action to prevent a similar drop in community
pharmacy numbers?
I can only urge your readers to use this consultation period and to respond
vigorously to the Department of Health’s proposals to modernise
pharmacy services before 21 November. Do not waste this final opportunity
to protect the vital services we provide to our patients.
Peter Badham
Badham Chemists Ltd
Cheltenham |
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