Struggling family-run pharmacies to be given a second chance

HEALTH minister Rosie Winterton has offered a glimmer of hope to Camden’s small chemists which face closure under a tough new contract with the Department of Health.
Fears independent chemists would go the way of the post office, further depriving elderly people of regular contact with a familiar face, resulted in Hampstead and Highgate MP Glenda Jackson and Gospel Oak pharmacist Harry Gitter (pictured) meeting with Ms Winterton on Tuesday.
She revealed that there will be a mid-term review of the contract, probably in six months’ time.
This gives Camden’s independent pharmacists a second chance to oppose the changes that threaten their livelihood.
The New Journal revealed last December that under the new contract, pharmacists dealing with fewer than 2,000 prescriptions a month will no longer receive an annual £20,000 government payment. Many pharmacists then told the New Journal that family-run chemists, who are able to keep a close eye on their elderly customers, would struggle to stay afloat, and only the big chains would survive.
Mr Gitter said he now has a chance to hold on to Macey Pharmacy in Lismore Circus, Gospel Oak, which issues around 1,600 prescriptions a month.
He said: “Rosie Winterton told me it was never her intention to jeopardise the future of small pharmacies. We were never told about the mid-term review, but it now means we have a chance to renegotiate. I think a lot of people are going to be looking at the terms of this contract with fresh eyes.”
Ms Jackson said: “It was certainly a very positive meeting and I am reassured of the government’s commitment to maintaining the important services pharmacists provide.” She is writing to the Camden Primary Care Trust asking it to make funding available to ensure that Macey and other small chemists can survive.