Hunt

Hunt talks tripe

Jeremy’s been at it again – patronising community pharmacy. He’s been telling Parliament that the NHS should not “continue to subsidise pharmacies that are very close to other pharmacies”.

It doesn’t make sense, he insisted, claiming that 40 per cent of pharmacies are in clusters of three or more. And, as with the rest of the NHS, community pharmacy has to make efficiency savings. According to him, the government’s “reforms” are “designed to ensure that, where there is only one local pharmacy that people can access, that pharmacy is protected”.

Putting pharmacy on the right path - Ian Strachan

Ian Strachan updates members on the NPA's campaign to secure their future

Lords ask for funding cuts to be reconsidered

Lords call for more investment in pharmacy services rather than funding cuts

A nail-biting wait

Brexit has introduced a great deal of uncertainty concerning the future of the of the British economy. Investments are being delayed and the markets are jittery.

Let’s be honest – we all like certainty. Being certain about something enables us to plan, to invest and to look to the future with confidence.

So what should we make of the fact that Parliament has broken for its summer recess and the expected announcement regarding the government’s plans to cut funding for pharmacy in England by £170 million has not been made?

David Mowat appointed new pharmacy minister

New pharmacy minister announced following change of government

NHS under threat from ‘more for less’

Jeremy Hunt is in trouble. “This is his IDS moment”, says Chris Ham of the King’s Fund in a Guardian Online article today. “Hunt now faces unpalatable choices about the direction of health policy, akin to the dilemmas that led Iain Duncan Smith to resign as Work and Pensions Secretary. Just as Duncan Smith felt his mission to reform welfare was undermined by budget cuts, so Hunt’s ambition to improve quality of care is at risk from financial constraints.”

One year on: confusion reigns

Is it really a year since the election that saw in this Conservative government? I remember giving a qualified welcome to Alistair Burt, the new health minister with responsibility for pharmacy. Naively, as
subsequent events have shown, I made some suggestions regarding how we could help with a number of problems that the Health Service was facing then and is still facing now.