NHS: Community Pharmacies

Lord Low of Dalston Excerpts

Tuesday 6th December 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

Yes, my Lords, I completely agree with that. It is worth saying that the pharmacy access scheme will ensure that pharmacies in rural areas or in the top 20% for deprivation will receive higher levels of income than pharmacies grouped together in urban areas.

[Lord Low of Dalston (CB)]

My Lords, whatever the precise scale of the cut, a cut is still a cut. Would the Minister not agree that, rather than cutting pharmacies’ budgets, the Government should be commissioning more services from pharmacies in order to relieve pressure on the hard-pressed NHS?

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

My Lords, the fact is that across the NHS we are looking to save £22 billion, and sadly, community pharmacy cannot be exempt from those necessary efficiency requirements. But I repeat that, over time, we will see more and more NHS services delivered by community pharmacies, whether it is a sore throat testing service or the treating of minor ailments.