Community pharmacies saved from deregulation plans

doi:10.1136/bmj.327.7408.184-b

BMJ 2003;327:184 (26 July), doi:10.1136/bmj.327.7408.184-b

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Community pharmacies saved from deregulation plans

London Lynn Eaton

The government has refused to fully endorse recommendations from the Office of Fair Trading calling for deregulation of pharmacies, a move that would have threatened the future of small community pharmacies, particularly in rural or poor areas.

At the moment, although a pharmacy can in theory be set up anywhere, primary care trusts are responsible for granting them contracts to dispense NHS prescriptions, which account for about 80% of their work.

The report of the Office of Fair Trading, which was published in January, had called for these controls to end, arguing that they were not in the customers� interest and that they adversely affected cost. The proposal caused a furore and had already been rejected by the Commons health select committee (21 June, p 1347).

Announcing the decision, Patricia Hewitt, trade and industry secretary, said community pharmacies played a vital role.

"Given the current shortage of . . . [Full text of this article]

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