Primary Care: Targets

Lord Naseby Excerpts

Tuesday 13th October 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

My Lords, the short answer is no. I do not think that I could stand here and promise funding for artists in GP surgeries, but I do have an open mind. If the noble Lord would like to talk to me about it outside the Chamber, I would be very happy to do so.

[Lord Naseby (Con)]

My Lords, as the NHS has a problem with its cost base, rather than load GP practices with even more overheads, would it not be wiser to follow what a number of us experience in our own practices: much closer liaison between GP practices and local chemists, which account for only a partial amount of the NHS’s overheads?

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

My noble friend makes a very good point. There is an increasing and important role for high-street and community pharmacists in delivering healthcare.