Oral Answers to Questions

Dave Doogan Excerpts
Tuesday 23rd November 2021

(2 years, 5 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Maria Caulfield Portrait Maria Caulfield
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My hon. Friend makes some excellent points, and I put on record again our thanks to community pharmacists and all community pharmacy teams. During the pandemic, more than 1,500 community pharmacy-led covid vaccination sites have been set up, delivering 15 million covid vaccinations so far, and this winter more than 3.8 million flu vaccines have been delivered through community pharmacies, which shows that they are leading the way in primary care.

Dave Doogan Portrait Dave Doogan (Angus) (SNP)
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The role of community pharmacies across Angus and Scotland during the pandemic cannot be underestimated. The way they were able to alleviate pressure on clinical services and the wider NHS must be noted. That is why the Scottish Government have introduced their NHS Pharmacy First Scotland service, backed by £7.5 million last year and going up to £10 million. Can the Minister assure me that the lessons we have learned in Scotland are accepted by Whitehall, and would she like to come to see the lessons we have learned in Scotland? I would be happy to accompany her.