§ 7. Mr. John Healey (Wentworth)What role he plans for community pharmacists in the future delivery of primary health care services. [98932]
§ 17. Mr. Mark Todd (South Derbyshire)What steps he has taken to increase the role and recognition of pharmacies in primary care. [98942]
§ The Minister of State, Department of Health (Mr. John Denham)We have made it clear that we believe that community pharmacists have an important role to play in primary health care. We can do more to realise their full potential. Community pharmacists, who of course offer free advice on the high street and with no appointment, will play a major role in the Department's "Choose the right remedy" winter campaign, and we shall be publishing a strategy document, setting out ways of making better use of the skills and expertise of community pharmacists within the new national health service.
§ Mr. HealeyI thank my hon. Friend for that encouraging reply, but can he confirm when the first limited pharmacist prescribing pilots will begin? Will he consider the case for the Rotherham local pharmacists committee to play a part in those pilots, in view of the fact that, for nearly two years, local pharmacists have been advising some general practitioners on prescribing, and that that has led to drugs budget savings and better-quality prescriptions?
§ Mr. DenhamThere is no doubt that pharmacists can help make better use of prescribed medicines. They can help with more cost-effective prescribing through advice to GPs and through the effective management of patients' medication regimes. We are keen to encourage those developments in several ways, including the involvement of pharmacists with primary care groups. We have supported the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee's medicines management project through funding, although that project is not yet ready to consider pilot sites. Therefore we are committed to developing the role of community pharmacists, and as part of that process we have had discussions with the pharmacy and medical professions about proposals to enable pharmacists to supply on the NHS some medicines that do not need a doctor's prescription. Again, we are not in a position to introduce firm proposals on that, but it is being given close scrutiny.
§ Mr. ToddI welcome both the Minister's encouraging replies on the subject. The rural pharmacies in my area, 462 such as those in Castle Gresley, Melbourne, Etwall and Willington, provide valuable services to my constituents. Among the things that would reassure them about their value would, first, be prompt settlement of the claims for remuneration by pharmacists and, secondly, the recognition that, in small pharmacies, the ability to absorb lower unit costs in providing pharmacy services is extremely limited. That fact should be recognised in any settlement offered to the pharmacy sector. Does my hon. Friend agree?
§ Mr. DenhamOn my hon. Friend's first point, if there are issues of particular concern about the payment of remuneration, I shall certainly be happy to consider them in greater detail. Rural pharmacies play a very important role in the countryside and my hon. Friend may be interested to know that, in the not too distant future, my noble Friend Lord Hunt will meet the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee and the general practitioners committee of the British Medical Association to consider some of the issues involved.
The global sum for pharmacies was increased by 3 per cent. this year—well above the rate of inflation—and we believe that that is a fair settlement. From time to time, we discuss more detailed issues with the negotiating committee.
§ Mr. James Gray (North Wiltshire)It is easy for the Minister to pay lip service to how the Government listen to rural pharmacies. Is he not aware that people, such as the old people and young mothers in my constituency who live many miles from the nearest town, utterly rely on rural pharmacies? The fact that Lord Hunt will have a meeting in the next few weeks will do nothing to resolve the problem. Many pharmacies are close to bankruptcy and will go out of business shortly. By what mechanism does the Minister know how many pharmacies in rural areas are going out of business, and what does he intend to do about it?
§ Mr. DenhamI am not aware of any significant trend of the sort that the hon. Gentleman has tried to describe. The position on the supply of pharmacies and pharmaceutical services in rural areas is stable. There are issues that arise because of the conflicts that have come up in the past between doctors who wish to dispense in rural areas and the provision of rural pharmacies. We have said for some time to the negotiating committee and to the British Medical Association that we would be prepared to consider, without obligation, any joint proposals that came forward to resolve the impasse that has existed for some time. It is proposals of that sort that Lord Hunt will be discussing in a few weeks time, but it is too early to say whether that will lead to a resolution of the problem. At least the two sides have got together and made some proposals. That is a considerable step forward.
§ Dr. Jenny Tonge (Richmond Park)Does the Minister agree that, with the approach of Christmas and the millennium celebrations, there will be an escalating need for advice on family planning, contraception and the supply of the necessary things? Indeed, a very eminent member of the Labour party has already demonstrated that need—and Christmas is not yet upon us. Will the Minister 463 tell the House whether, in the protocols between local pharmacies and doctors, he will include the provision of emergency contraception?
§ Mr. DenhamThe plans made—probably in greater detail than ever before—for the winter and the millennium period include and have included at local level the provision of the widest range of local pharmaceutical services. We have made every effort to ensure that the services that people can normally obtain from a pharmacy at other times of the year will be available over the millennium period as well.