Doctors Steward and Hunt are asking for your help with a threat to the GP Dispensary. They write:

Dear Patient

We are asking for your support regarding a proposed Government change which will reduce the choice available to some of our patients of where they can collect their prescriptions.

The Government has produced a Pharmacy White Paper which contains numerous proposals and has asked for comments from professionals and patients. You can read the White Paper and Response Form in full here.

Currently, if a patient lives more than a mile from a pharmacy then they have the choice to collect their prescriptions from their GP Surgery rather than travelling to a chemist. This applies to about 10% of our patients and almost all of them choose to collect their prescriptions from the Surgery. It is easier to park near the surgery, they do not have to walk through the store to get to the pharmacy and often their prescription can be made up while they are seeing the Doctor or Nurse.

One of the proposals (Page 35, Chapter 4, paragraph 8) would take away this choice from our patients because the pharmacy at Tesco is within a kilometre of the surgery.

The cost to the NHS is likely to increase if this change is brought in because the total cost per patient per year for patients who collect their medicines from a chemist is greater than the cost for patients who collect their medicines from their surgery.

We feel it is not in our patients’ interests to take away this choice and if you agree we would like you to write or email to oppose this proposal. You need to say that your response to Question 25 on the Response Form is that you support “Option 1 – that there should be no change in the rules which govern which patients can collect their prescriptions from their GP surgery” and you need to give your reasons in your own words.

Please write to:

  Gillian Farnfield,
  Department of Health
  Medicines, Pharmacy and Industry Group
  Area 453D, Skipton House
  80 London Road
  London SE1 6LH

You can also do this via email to PWPCONS@dh.gsi.gov.uk

The closing date for responses is 20th November 2008

Thank you for your help

Dr Rebecca Steward and Dr Cain Hunt