Baroness Finlay of Llandaff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Finlay of Llandaff on 2016-02-29.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how the six per cent decrease in community pharmacy funding will be allocated to ensure that access to medication at all times is maintained, in particular for those who are frail or who have complex conditions.
Lord Prior of Brampton
Community pharmacy is a vital part of the National Health Service and can play an even greater role. In the Spending Review, the Government re-affirmed the need for the NHS to deliver £22 billion in efficiency savings by 2020/21 as set out in the NHS’s own plan, the Five Year Forward View. Community pharmacy is a core part of NHS primary care and has an important contribution to make as the NHS rises to these challenges. The Government believes efficiencies can be made without compromising the quality of services including patients’ access to medicines.
Our aim is to ensure that those community pharmacies upon which people depend continue to thrive and so we are consulting on the introduction of a Pharmacy Access Scheme, which will provide more NHS funds to certain pharmacies compared to others, considering factors such as location and the health needs of the local population.
