Community Pharmacy in 2016-17 and Beyond Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department of Health and Social Care
Norman Lamb
Main Page: Norman Lamb (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)Department Debates - View all Norman Lamb's debates with the Department of Health and Social Care
Community Pharmacy in 2016-17 and Beyond
Norman Lamb ExcerptsThursday 20th October 2016
(7 years, 6 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Housing Standards (Preparation and Storage of Food by Tenants in Receipt of Universal Credit or Housing Benefit) Bill 2016-17 View all Housing Standards (Preparation and Storage of Food by Tenants in Receipt of Universal Credit or Housing Benefit) Bill 2016-17 Debates Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
David Mowat
The access scheme to which I referred will apply to rural and urban pharmacies. Indeed, there is more urban than rural in it, but it will protect rural pharmacies in the way my right hon. Friend mentions.
Norman Lamb (North Norfolk) (LD)
There is no escaping the fact that this amounts to a significant cut in prevention services, which is what always happens when the finances of the NHS are under pressure. I absolutely accept the need for reform of the financial incentives involved, to ensure that we get the best outcomes from the money being spent, but surely we should be investing more in prevention in order to ensure that the NHS is sustainable.
David Mowat
The quality system that I have mentioned is about potentially investing more in prevention and linking the best pharmacies—the high quality pharmacies—more closely to local authorities, public health schemes and all that goes with that. I make the point again that there is a requirement for efficiency savings, but we do not believe that they will affect access overall. We do not believe that this will affect the public’s ability to use pharmacies as they do now. This will be part of modernising and digitising the service and providing resources for other parts of the NHS that need them very much.