§ Bob Spink (Castle Point)Local pharmacies are a key part of primary health care. They take a great burden away from our general practitioners and could do much more if regulations were altered to enable them to do so. They are an important element in our local communities, forming the very fabric of our society. We should recognise that they are not simply retailers, but health care professionals. The proposals of the Office of Fair Trading would damage the most vulnerable people in society—especially the elderly, those with mobility difficulties, young mothers and disabled and poor people. Deregulation would hurt, not help, the consumer and set back the pharmacy service for years.
I have three petitions to present .From three different communities; I apologise for having to read out each petition.
The first petition is from Thundersley. It states:
To the Honourable Commons of the United Kingdom, Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled.The Humble Petition of Ms Patel, Norman Ladzrie, Godfrey Isaacs and others of like disposition shewethThat local communities are best served by local pharmacies and that the OFT's recommendations to abolish the "control of entry" regulations would seriously damage local pharmacies.Wherefore your Petitioners pray that your Honourable House shall urge the Government to reject proposals that would allow unrestricted opening of pharmacies a ale to dispense NHS prescriptions, and to preserve local pharmacies and safeguard their continuing provision of services.And your Petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray.To lie upon the Table.The second petition is from the residents of the community of Hadleigh. It states:
To the Honourable Commons of the United Kingdom, Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled.The Humble Petition of Asif Moledina, Tony Thomas, Bill Sharp and others of like disposition shewethThat local communities are best served by local, community-based pharmacies, and that the OFT's recommendations to abolish the "control of entry" regulations would seriously damage local pharmacies.Wherefore your Petitioners pray that your Honourable House shall urge the Government to reject proposals that would allow unrestricted opening of pharmacies able to dispense NHS prescriptions, and to preserve local pharmacies and safeguard their continuing provision of services to local communities.And your Petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray.To lie upon the Table.The third petition is from the residents of Canvey Island. It states:
To the Honourable Commons of the United Kingdom, Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled.The Humble Petition of Mr. Bill Sharp, Lance Munt, Norman Bambridge and others of like disposition sheweth422That local communities are best served by local, community-based pharmacies, and that the OFT recommendations to abolish the "control of entry" regulations would seriously damage local pharmacies.Wherefore your Petitioners pray that your Honourable House shall urge the Government to reject proposals that would allow unrestricted opening of pharmacies able to dispense NHS prescriptions, and to preserve local pharmacies and safeguard their continuing provision of services to local communities.And your Petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray.To lie upon the Table.