On 17th December last the Department of Health imposed a 6% cut in pharmacy funding making an already struggling NHS service even more vulnerable.
The Chemist shop, and neighbourhood Pharmacy, do very important work and it is highly valued amongst doctors, patients, and their carers. Local chemist’s shops are very important to the general health and well-being of patients, as well as being a point of contact with medical professionals.
For many people the ability to access the local chemist is key to maintaining their medication supplies, provides the ability to ask about treatments for day to day problems; coughs and colds for example, and provides a walk in availability that is too important to lose.
Should the intended reduction go to plan many existing chemist’s shops and pharmacy’s will suffer a cut in profits that will have a knock on effect causing them to lose experienced and qualified staff, and in some cases it will prove fatal to the local chemist shop. The network of social care is again under attack in the drive to reduce big governmental overall spending at the expense of people who are at their most vulnerable.
People who wish to have their say in this matter should join the campaign and sign the petition that is being raised on https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/116943
Once an amenity such as a local chemist, or pharmacy, shop is lost it is gone for ever. Whilst it may not worry some of the younger and fitter members of society it will certainly impact on the elderly, the mothers of young children, and those with illness and life limiting conditions, as well as those disabled people who cannot cope without access to local medical supplies.
Sykes Chemist have a local network of shops serving people throughout the Bolton area, they fill prescriptions, supply remedies for ailments, advise on prescription drug usage, interact with GP’s on our behalf, and perform a highly qualified quality control mechanism for materials supplied via the hospitals, dentists, and GP’s by checking each and every item in close detail. This service is too valuable to lose, it is our local NHS health service in the high street and it needs to be defended with full vigour.
The perception is that there would not be a replacement facility that is readily available. Perhaps, the remaining shops will be fewer and farther between or have untrained and under pressure staff dealing with a much larger catchment area? Another alternative, already creeping in, includes ‘mail order drugs’ via a GP linked telephone or online ordering system, thus limiting our ability not only to see a Doctor easily but a Pharmacist also, in all reducing the NHS availability even more.
Hi I am Faz and am passionate about all things Bolton. I hope you enjoy reading my blogs and find them to be interesting and thought provoking. I would love you to add your personal comments to them. Dont...
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