Queen’s Speech

Lord Choudrey Excerpts

Wednesday 12th May 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Choudrey (Con) [V]]

My Lords, I thank the noble and noble and learned Lords before me for their contributions. I refer your Lordships to my entry in the register of interests.

Her Majesty’s gracious Address to your Lordships’ House set out the Government’s priorities for supporting local communities and building a fairer, stronger economy for the future. Although the Covid pandemic has had a profound impact on our economy, our robust vaccine programme continues to improve the economic outlook for 2021, with independent forecasters expecting the economy to grow by 5.7% during the current year.

I would like to showcase the success of our local pharmaceutical industry, a sector of the economy that has benefited from the Government’s investment in research and development, financial incentives and encouragement. In the initial days of the pandemic, in December 2019, the Government provided a grant of £20 million to the University of Oxford. This research grant helped spur innovation and research into the Covid virus, which in turn led to the development of the Covid vaccines. Such timely measures, coupled with long-term investment in manufacturing capacity by successive Conservative Governments, meant that by the time the vaccine was approved the manufacturing infrastructure was already in place and could be scaled up quickly, which resulted in three vaccines being made domestically, giving ready access to much-needed and timely supplies. This has led to the development of a world-renowned pharmaceutical industry—an industry that is today the envy of the world and an example of the brand “Global Britannia”.

The success of the pharmaceutical industry highlights the case of the Government, the private sector and academia working together in partnership to create an enabling environment. The Government’s desire to reinforce this by legislating for the establishment of the advanced research and invention agency is a welcome step; I fully endorse the record investment which the Conservative Government are putting into R&D.

Complementing the good work of our pharmaceutical industry are our community pharmacists. In the immediate aftermath of the pandemic, pharmacies played a key role in reducing the burden on our NHS by meeting the urgent care needs of local communities. As GPs closed their surgeries, pharmacists became the only primary healthcare professionals who patients could see in person. I endorse the call of the Company Chemists’ Association and urge the Government to use the legislation announced in the Queen’s Speech to fully integrate community pharmacies into the emerging health and social care landscape. By embedding our local community pharmacies within the NHS, we can extract multiple benefits for patients and practitioners. It is vital that as we come out of the pandemic, these capabilities are recognised and embedded within the NHS.

According to the British Medical Association, the shutdown of most non-Covid services in the first wave, combined with drastic changes in patient behaviour, means that the NHS is now facing a large backlog of non-Covid care, storing up greater problems for the future. The BMA estimates that, between April 2020 and February 2021, there were 3.25 million fewer elective procedures and 20 million fewer outpatient attendances.

According to the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee, community pharmacists dispense over 1 billion prescription items every year and deliver 48 million healthcare advice consultations a year. To put that in context, this saves nearly 500,000 million GP appointments and 57,000 A&E visits every week. According to Royal Pharmaceutical Society research, the cost of treating a patient for a minor ailment, such as a cough or sore throat, is £29 in a community pharmacy, but nearly three times higher, at £82, if the same patient is seen by a GP, and nearly five times higher, at £147, in a hospital A&E department. The statistics speak for themselves; your Lordships would surely agree that community pharmacies offer good value for money and play a vital and integral role in delivering NHS services to the local community. I therefore recommend to the Government that they transfer more NHS services to community pharmacies where they have already demonstrated their capabilities, through flu jabs and Covid vaccination. This will free up NHS and GP capacity and help them to tackle the backlog of outstanding non-Covid care procedures and consultations.

As a trustee of multiple community charities, I whole- heartedly welcome the changes—

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

The noble Lord may want to take note of the advisory time limit of five minutes for Back-Bench contributions.