Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of pharmacies have closed in St Albans constituency since 2019.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There were 16 pharmacies on 31 December 2023 in St Albans constituency. Between 31 December 2019 and 31 December 2023, three pharmacies closed in St Albans and no new pharmacies opened. However, access to pharmaceutical services remains good, with 89 percent of the population in St Albans living within a 20 minutes’ walk from a pharmacy. This exceeds the national average of 80 percent. Residents of St Albans can also access services from distance selling pharmacies that operate nationally.
It is the role of local authorities in England to undertake pharmaceutical needs assessments for their areas, every three years, to ensure provision continues to meet their population’s needs. ICBs have regard to those assessments when commissioning services and where a pharmacy closure impacts on the access to services, a new contractor can apply to open a pharmacy in the area.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of pharmacy closures on the quality of primary care in St Albans constituency since 2019.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There were 16 pharmacies on 31 December 2023 in St Albans constituency. Between 31 December 2019 and 31 December 2023, three pharmacies closed in St Albans and no new pharmacies opened. However, access to pharmaceutical services remains good, with 89 percent of the population in St Albans living within a 20 minutes’ walk from a pharmacy. This exceeds the national average of 80 percent. Residents of St Albans can also access services from distance selling pharmacies that operate nationally.
It is the role of local authorities in England to undertake pharmaceutical needs assessments for their areas, every three years, to ensure provision continues to meet their population’s needs. ICBs have regard to those assessments when commissioning services and where a pharmacy closure impacts on the access to services, a new contractor can apply to open a pharmacy in the area.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help prevent community pharmacy closures.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There were 16 pharmacies on 31 December 2023 in St Albans constituency. Between 31 December 2019 and 31 December 2023, three pharmacies closed in St Albans and no new pharmacies opened. However, access to pharmaceutical services remains good, with 89 percent of the population in St Albans living within a 20 minutes’ walk from a pharmacy. This exceeds the national average of 80 percent. Residents of St Albans can also access services from distance selling pharmacies that operate nationally.
It is the role of local authorities in England to undertake pharmaceutical needs assessments for their areas, every three years, to ensure provision continues to meet their population’s needs. ICBs have regard to those assessments when commissioning services and where a pharmacy closure impacts on the access to services, a new contractor can apply to open a pharmacy in the area.
Apr. 19 2024
Source Page: Scotland's Genomic Medicine Strategy 2024-2029Found: Critical within this area is also engagement with pharmacy colleagues around the use and optimisation
Report Apr. 19 2024
Committee: Public Accounts CommitteeFound: State Pension HC 654 34th Local Government Finance System: Overview and Challenges HC 646 35th The pharmacy
Asked by: Neale Hanvey (Alba Party - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she plans to take to ensure that online pharmacies that provide medicines to patients in the UK adhere to the NHS clinical guideline on puberty-suppressing hormones or the treatment of children and adolescents who have gender (a) incongruence and (b) dysphoria.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
All community pharmacists, whether working on a high street or online, have a duty of care to their patients. We would expect pharmacists to take reasonable steps to ensure that all the medicines they dispense are against legally valid prescriptions, and appropriate for the patient under the authority of the prescriber. This includes both National Health Service prescriptions and private prescriptions. Registered pharmacy professionals and premises are independently regulated by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC), and guidance has been issued for those providing services at a distance, including online pharmacies.
While pharmacists are responsible for a final clinical check, ultimately the responsibility for the product prescribed rests with the prescriber. We are looking closely at what can be done to address any loopholes in prescribing practices, including work with the GPhC to define the dispensing responsibilities of pharmacists providing private prescriptions, as recommended by the Cass Report.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the medication reimbursement mechanism for community pharmacists.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Through the medicine margin survey, the Department assesses whether the reimbursement arrangements pay pharmacy contractors as agreed as part of the community pharmacy contractual framework (CPCF). The medicine margin survey considers what pharmacies paid for medicines by looking at their invoices compared to the amount reimbursed by the National Health Service. Where the survey finds that they have been underpaid, we increase the pharmacy contractors’ payments, and where they have been overpaid, we decrease payments.
Furthermore, where pharmacies cannot purchase products at or below the Drug Tariff NHS reimbursement price, Community Pharmacy England can request that the Department reassesses the reimbursement price. If a new reimbursement price is issued, this is known as a concessionary price.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of medication costs on community pharmacies.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Through the medicine margin survey, the Department assesses whether the reimbursement arrangements pay pharmacy contractors as agreed as part of the community pharmacy contractual framework (CPCF). The medicine margin survey considers what pharmacies paid for medicines by looking at their invoices compared to the amount reimbursed by the National Health Service. Where the survey finds that they have been underpaid, we increase the pharmacy contractors’ payments, and where they have been overpaid, we decrease payments.
Furthermore, where pharmacies cannot purchase products at or below the Drug Tariff NHS reimbursement price, Community Pharmacy England can request that the Department reassesses the reimbursement price. If a new reimbursement price is issued, this is known as a concessionary price.
Mentions:
1: Lord Markham (Con - Life peer) Things such as Pharmacy First are good ways ahead. - Speech Link
Mentions:
1: Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville (LD - Life peer) This appears to indicate that the veterinary profession is suffering from a lack of pharmacy specialists - Speech Link