§ Dr. Roger Thomasasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make a statement as to his Department's conclusions on the effectiveness of the Crowther rural dispensing regulations; how much general practitioner applications to dispense are outstanding; and how many successful applicants are involved giving a service to (a) less than 50 patients and (b) between 51 and 100 patients.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeThe first annual report of the rural dispensing committee was published on 8 November and copies have been placed in the Library. The report reflects the growing co-operation between the medical and pharmaceutical professions on regulating significant changes in the arrangements for dispensing medicines in rural areas in England and Wales. The report also shows that the professions have found, in this Committee, a formula for achieving the provision of sensible and suitable pharmaceutical services for patients living in mural areas.
I understand that at 29 November, the Committee had 15 applications from general practitioners awaiting determination.
Since the Committee started its work 72 applications have been granted wholly or in part and in 25 of these it was estimated that the maximum number of patients immediately involved would be less than 50 and in 17 it was estimated that the number of patients involved would be from 50 to 100. It is not possible to state how many of the estimated numbers of patients will receive pharmaceutical services from their general practitioners because some may prefer to continue to receive their medicines from a pharmacy.