The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 280 No 7491 p237
1 March 2008

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Minister promises to assess the impact of proposals arising from Darzi review

Health minister Dawn Primarolo has given her assurance that impact assessments will be undertaken as part of the NHS Next Stage Review in England. The assurance came after the Royal Pharmaceutical Society wrote to the minister with its concerns about the possible impact of Lord Darzi’s proposals to aggregate local healthcare services.

Hemant Patel, President of the Society, said that he was pleased that the Department of Health had responded to the Society’s call. This was a significant step forward, he said.

“However, we must remain focused on making this happen in reality,” he said. “The Society has identified clear social, economic and healthcare factors on which Lord Darzi’s proposals will impact considerably. We must achieve an agreement whereby impact assessments will be guaranteed on a wide scale in every locality where there are plans to introduce ‘super-surgeries’.”