Mr. John D. TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what process of consultation was undergone before it was decided that patients living less than 5 km from a pharmacy would no longer be able to collect medication from a general practitioner's surgery; what considerations underlie the application of the 5 km rule to Northern Ireland and the one-mile rule in Great Britain; what effect the rule change will have on residents of Lisbane, County Down; and if he will make a statement [41229]
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§ Mr. MossExtensive consultation and deliberation have taken place over two and a half years, involving health and social services boards, the Central Services Agency and the representative bodies of both the medical and pharmaceutical professions. Health and social services councils are now going to be consulted about the final draft of the revised guidelines. When boards come to implement the guidelines they will be approaching individual patients about their needs and circumstances, as they review their general practitioners' dispensing lists.
Regulations governing dispensing by doctors in Northern Ireland are similar to those operating in Scotland, but different to those which apply in England and Wales. The guidelines operating under the various regulations are therefore also different. The one-mile rule in England and Wales is actually contained in regulations but is not used in determining whether a patient has serious difficulty in obtaining medication from a pharmacy. Under the revised Northern Ireland guidelines it is proposed to use 5 km distance from a pharmacy as the general basic test for serious difficulty. This is considered reasonable, given that a two-mile rule has been in operation from 1957 and there have been significant improvements in transport and telecommunications since then. In addition, many pharmacies are now providing collection and delivery services, making it easier for patients to get their drugs. Boards will, however, have the flexibility to exercise judgment in relation to individual patients when reasons other than distance exist for serious difficulty. In exercising such judgment, boards will have as their paramount concern the overall needs of patients and their access to the professional services of both general medical practitioners and community pharmacists.
The effect of the changes on the residents of Lisbane, County Down, will not be known until the revised guidelines are applied by the Eastern health and social services board, in relation to individual patients on general practitioners' dispensing lists.