Community Pharmacy in 2016-17 and Beyond Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department of Health and Social Care
Keith Vaz
Main Page: Keith Vaz (Labour - Leicester East)Department Debates - View all Keith Vaz's debates with the Department of Health and Social Care
Community Pharmacy in 2016-17 and Beyond
Keith Vaz ExcerptsThursday 20th October 2016
(8 years, 1 month ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Housing Standards (Preparation and Storage of Food by Tenants in Receipt of Universal Credit or Housing Benefit) Bill 2016-17 View all Housing Standards (Preparation and Storage of Food by Tenants in Receipt of Universal Credit or Housing Benefit) Bill 2016-17 Debates Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
David Mowat
The volume of business is gradually increasing. If a pharmacy in a cluster should close, that business will be redirected to other pharmacies in the cluster. They will then be in a position to expand, take on more people and all the rest of it.
Keith Vaz (Leicester East) (Lab)
I declare my interest as a type 2 diabetic and as chair of the all-party parliamentary group on diabetes. The Minister is wrong to say that Leicester has too many pharmacies. The fact is that the population demands those services. Instead of making these cuts, why does he not spend that £25,000 on diabetes prevention, thus saving the national health service a huge amount of money in the future?
David Mowat
I have never said that Leicester has too many pharmacies. What I said in answer to the urgent question was that one road in Leicester—Loughborough Road, I think—has 12 pharmacies within half a mile, and that is quite hard to justify.
As for the right hon. Gentleman’s other point about diabetes and long-term conditions, I mentioned the King’s Fund work being done by Richard Murray and addressing long-term conditions is the sort of value-added service that pharmacies need to provide in future. The £42 million integration fund that we have set aside will enable that to happen.