Community Pharmacy Closures
Baroness Humphreys Excerpts(3 days, 1 hour ago)
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Baroness Merron (Lab)
The economic analysis by NHS England that I just referred to will be helpful in informing where we go next. I confess that I did not get all the detail of the noble Lord’s second point, so I will look at it in Hansard and I will be pleased to write to him.
Baroness Humphreys (LD)
Community pharmacy owners rated medicine supply instability as the most severe pressure their businesses face. This instability puts operational pressures on pharmacies and financial pressures on businesses, and for patients it can mean alarming delays. What measures are the Government taking to address the problems of medicine supply and their impact on hard-pressed community pharmacies?
Baroness Merron (Lab)
I recognise that, as the noble Baroness says, there are some difficulties with the supplies of certain medicines. That has been going on for some time. We are therefore working to ensure that the supply chain is secure and robust and can meet the demands on it, which requires a detailed look. Work will continue, and I look forward to continuing to update your Lordships’ House about that.
Type 2 Diabetes: Continuous Glucose Monitors
Baroness Humphreys Excerpts(2 months, 1 week ago)
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Baroness Merron (Lab)
The right reverend Prelate is quite right in what she says, including that responsibility for CGM implementation rests with integrated care boards. It is their responsibility to ensure that the technologies we are talking about can be accessed by all eligible patients regardless of their ethnicity or their indices of multiple deprivation. I assure the right reverend Prelate that achieving that equality of access in all diabetes technology is an absolute priority. We will continue to monitor progress and encourage ICBs to do that by the NDA quarterly dashboard in 2025-26. In other words, we will give ICBs the tools to do the job they need to do.
Baroness Humphreys (LD)
My Lords, the use of CGMs makes diabetes easier to manage, as they give not only instant information about blood sugar levels but also indicate whether levels are rising or lowering. The DVLA, however, insists on two-hourly glucose monitoring by the traditional finger pricking method when driving on long journeys. Does the noble Baroness envisage a change in this guidance in the near future?
Baroness Merron (Lab)
I must confess that is something that I will need to look into—it may be with my ministerial colleagues in the Department for Transport. But I will look into it, and I will be pleased to write to the noble Baroness.