Community Pharmacy in 2016-17 and Beyond

Debate between Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen and Lord Lea of Crondall

Thursday 20th October 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen]

That is why the pharmacy access scheme is very much there to make sure that pharmacies in these rural areas will be fully protected from any funding reductions. But the competition is there. Pharmacies on the whole are privately owned. It is important and only fair that, in these strapped times for the NHS, private companies should in some way also help the publicly funded NHS.

[Lord Lea of Crondall (Lab)]

My Lords, my question is in the same territory as the previous question. It is not just the nomenclature but the knock-on effects between this Statement and GP dispensaries that is concerning. Have I understood this correctly? On the one hand, the Government expect more traffic to be diverted into GP dispensaries but, on the other hand, people will ultimately pay more—someone is paying—through a mixture of pressure on the big chains, supermarkets and, of course, A&E.