SMITH CALLS FOR TIME BAR ON PHARMACY RE-APLICATIONS IN PARLIAMENT

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Thu 18th Jun 2009

Local MSP Iain Smith has called on the Scottish Government to look into imposing time bars on re-applications for dispensing pharmacies.

Speaking in the Scottish Parliament yesterday evening during a debate on the important role of dispensing GPs in rural communities, Mr Smith highlighted the case in Leuchars where an application for a dispensing pharmacy in the Post Office has been lodged just weeks after an identical application was refused, much to the relief of the local community.

In the debate Mr Smith said:

"I ask the minister to comment on whether there should be a time bar on reapplication where an application fails, unless it fails for a particular reason that is then resolved or the circumstances in the area change significantly.

"It seems bizarre that a community can campaign successfully to resist the establishment of a pharmacy and be left having to start the process again from scratch just a couple of weeks after a national appeal was rejected.

He went on:

"Will the new regulations allow local pharmacy practices committees to take account of the wider health care issues in an area to ensure that allowing a community pharmacy to open and removing the dispensing services from a GP will not result in a significant loss of other services that are vital to local communities?"

The Minister for Public Health Shona Robison said that she was confident that Mr Smith's point about re-applications will be considered as part of the review into pharmacy services.