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Letter to the Prime Minister  – Reconsider plans in light of 2 million petition

30/6/2016

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​The NPA, together with PSNC and Pharmacy Voice have written a second letter to Prime Minister David Cameron, to accompany a delivery of another 200,000 signatures on the Support Your Local Pharmacy petition.  The additional signatures brings the total calling on the government to change course on pharmacy policy to two million.

Read the full text of the letter can be seen below.

The NPA have said "The pharmacy campaign doesn't stop here - we are awaiting a further government announcement, and will continue to fight for pharmacies, and the patients we serve, whatever the outcome."


Dear Prime Minister,

Two million people ask you to reconsider plans that put local pharmacies at risk

Last month we delivered to you a petition containing nearly 1.8 million signatures. Since then 200,000 more patients and concerned citizens have registered their objections to Department of Health plans to cut local pharmacy services and here with we are sending a second consignment of petitions to Downing Street.  This is the UK’s largest ever healthcare related petition.


Decisions taken in the next few weeks could have irreversible consequences for patients and communities up and down the country.  The current circumstances within Government provide an opportunity to reconsider these proposals to ensure that your Ministers do not set in motion a chain of events leading to the closure of community pharmacies up and down the country.

We wish to remind you, on behalf of all the people who are supporting our campaign, that the regular supply of medicines from community pharmacies with advice when required, is the foundation for high quality, direct pharmaceutical care in communities across England.  The DH proposals could see more patients obtaining their medicines without any face to face contact with a pharmacist.  Greater use of technology for remote medicines supply might look like the key to efficiency, but direct support from pharmacists improves patients’ use of medicines, and ensures value from the £8bn annual NHS investment in those medicines in primary care.

Pharmacists, patient groups, local councils, several national newspapers and many others have expressed serious concerns and called for discussions on an alternative path to improved care and greater efficiency.

You would be doing a signal service to the nation to actively promote constructive engagement between government officials and community pharmacy representatives in the period to come. By working together, we can make the pharmacy sector and the health system overall more efficient, whilst ensuring that no patient loses the reassurance, care and support pharmacies provide.

We attach our earlier letter to you, for completeness.

Yours Sincerely,

Ian Strachan                                          Sue Sharpe                         Rob Darracott
Chairman                                               Chief Executive                   Chief Executive
National Pharmacy Association             PSNC                                  Pharmacy Voice
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Breaking News - Government Postpones "Hub & Spoke" Plans

7/6/2016

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Gateshead & South Tyneside LPC welcomes the announcement today (7th June) that the Government will further engage with PSNC and other stakeholders before making changes to medicines legislation on 'hub and spoke' dispensing. 

Responding to a Parliamentary Question, minister Alistair Burt said the Department of Health would like to "explore in more detail with stakeholders' representatives before progressing any legislation". He said the Department did not now envisage changes to the legislation commencing on October 1st.

Mr Burt said the responses to the consultation had "raised issues" around removing the bar on 'hub and spoke' dispensing between retail pharmacies that are not part of the same business.

PSNC responded forcibly to the consultation, pointing out the many fundamental flaws in the proposals and consultation process; crucially, that the narrative of the consultation did not match the proposals in the draft legislation. We are delighted that the Government has acknowledged some of the issues and hope that in these further discussions it will recognise all of the shortcomings in its proposals.

PSNC Chief Executive Sue Sharpe said:
"The proposals in the 'hub and spoke' consultation have been ill thought out and the effect of the proposed legislation has not been made clear to pharmacy or the public.  We have seen a similar approach throughout the wider proposals laid out in the Government's 17th December letter on 'Community Pharmacy in 2016/17 and beyond', but as yet there has been no indication from the Department of Health that it will be prepared to grapple with the real issues or acknowledge the failings of that wider consultation process."

You can read the PSNC's responses to both the 'hub and spoke' consultation and the "Community Pharmacy 2016/17 and beyond" letter here.

NPA welcomes Government re-think on Hub and Spoke
The NPA (who have been spearheading the campaign do community Pharmacy) also wholeheartedly welcomes the Government’s re-think. ​

Responding to the news, NPA Chairman Ian Strachan said today:

“The Department of Health has listened to the growing chorus of concern in and around the pharmacy sector on this issue. The NPA has been at the forefront of the independent sector’s response and our detailed work on the issue has been key to achieving a unified position across the sector.   So we are naturally delighted that the Department is going back to the drawing board, which has been our request from the outset.   It’s to the credit of Ministers and officials that they have shifted the position in response to overwhelming evidence and reasoned arguments. We now hope that they will show the same degree of mature reflection in relation to other elements of their proposals. The entire policy package foisted on the sector in December should now be sense checked in the light of this development. At the very least, it surely calls into question the timing of the proposed funding cuts, which the DH has suggested could be absorbed because of the supposed cost savings from hub and spoke.
Throughout, we have worked closely with our Pharmacy Voice and PSNC colleagues and pharmacy bodies elsewhere in the UK. The news today shows the power of unity within the sector.  We now look forward to being part of the detailed discussions, bringing the widespread and genuine concerns of the independent sector to the table.  In no way is this the end of the matter. Nevertheless, I think we can allow ourselves to celebrate today. It is a vindication of our approach and a victory for common sense”.

The full statement from Alastair Burt reads:

“The consultation on changes to medicines legislation including on ‘hub and spoke’ dispensing did not rely on any specific safety profile of hub and spoke dispensing. Instead, the consultation document specifically asked consultees to provide evidence on the issue. Nevertheless, the responses to the consultation have raised issues around removing the bar on ‘hub and spoke’ dispensing between retail pharmacies that are not part of the same business that the Department would like to explore in more detail with stakeholders’ representatives before progressing any legislation. It does not now envisage changes to the legislation on this issue commencing on 1 October 2016.”  and can viewed here.



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    Pharmacy Future 2016
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    Following the DH letter in December announcing 6% cuts in Pharmacy funding the LPC have set up this Rolling Blog to keep you updated .

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Gateshead & South Tyneside Local Pharmaceutical Committee 2016