Pharmacy White Paper and Loss of Doctor Dispensing of Medicines
You may already be aware that the Pharmacy White Paper, which is currently under consultation with a deadline of 20th November 2008, may affect the continuation of the Dispensary at Marazion Surgery.
The government has recently published a white paper intending to reform the dispensing of medicines in England. This white paper is available to download on the Internet: http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Consultations/Liveconsultations/DH_087324
The white paper is long, but perhaps most relevant to Marazion Surgery’s patients is the proposal to reform where doctors are allowed to dispense medicines.
Under some of the proposals Marazion Surgery could lose its existing right to dispense medicines.
We cannot see how removing Marazion Surgery’s right to dispense medicines is in the best interests of our local population, which is why we are writing to you.
There is a consultation period until November 20th and enclosed with this letter is a response form which contains the key question about which doctors will be allowed to dispense medication in future.
We would like you to fill out the form attached. You can post it to the address stated at the bottom of the form, or drop it back to the surgery for us to post on your behalf.
(If you would like to respond using the whole 26 page response document this is available at the website above.)
We believe the best option is to leave things as they are: option one.
We believe option two gives no security to doctor dispensing of medication and options 3 and 4 could possibly stop Marazion Surgery dispensing.
If you agree, please tick option one and state your reasons in the box.
Our dispensary is a vital service to patients and our dispensers contribute to the quality of medical care that we provide. Your letter should outline the reasons why you think the dispensary should not close and we list below some examples that have already been raised:
- The difficulty for patients in a rural setting, especially the elderly, without transport, having to make an extra journey into town after seeing their doctor to collect their medication
- The impact on the volunteer driver service
- The inconvenience of trying to park in a busy seaside town, in comparison to the surgery
- The impact on the chemist of having an increased workload, which could lead to long waiting times for medication and queues in the chemist
- Extra C02 emissions due to all the extra journeys
- The loss of the dispensary delivery service, very valued by those who use it
- Any personal experiences
You can also support us by writing to your local MP,
Mr Andrew George
The House of Commons,
Westminster,
London
SW1A 0AA.
Your response and views, as a patient of Marazion Surgery, are very important. The government cannot ignore the views of the people most affected by these proposed changes.
Thank you for your support.
Drs Hamilton, Walden, Thacker, Killeen & Sugrue
