Community Pharmacy in 2016-17 and Beyond

Lord Haselhurst Excerpts

1st reading: House of Commons
Thursday 20th October 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Two points. First, Members who arrived after the start of the statement should not expect to be called. Secondly, there is extensive interest in this important statement—interest that I am keen to accommodate—but as I emphasised earlier there are to follow two heavily subscribed debates under the auspices of the Backbench Business Committee. Therefore, there is a premium upon brevity. We will be led in our brevity mission by one of the most senior and illustrious Members of the House, Sir Alan Haselhurst.

[Sir Alan Haselhurst (Saffron Walden) (Con)]

Does my hon. Friend the Minister acknowledge that the NHS has become such a part of the nation’s DNA that doctors’ surgeries are frequently overloaded, that absolutely the right way forward is to have a rational, well-spaced network of pharmacies and that that is of particular importance in rural areas?

[David Mowat]

I do recognise that. My right hon. Friend made the point that the network is well spaced and that rural areas are protected. I would also make the point that, as I said in my statement, we are recruiting a further 1,500 pharmacists into the GP network. They will also play a big part in that integration.