Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Pharmacies: Range of Work

Tuesday 8 June 2021 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 1 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Laurence Robertson asked the Minister about steps to increase the range of work carried out by pharmacies.
  • The Minister highlighted that pharmacies have shown their importance during the pandemic and have potential for further service expansion.
  • The Minister agreed to work with Laurence Robertson to raise public awareness of pharmacy services to reduce pressure on GPs.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Laurence Robertson Con
NHS
Context

The MP seeks clarification on the government's efforts to enhance pharmacy roles in community healthcare.

Question

What steps he is taking to increase the range of work carried out by pharmacies?

Answer from Jo Churchill

The pandemic has proven to the public how vital our highly skilled pharmacy teams are in supporting their communities. Pharmacies have massive potential to build on the new services they are already delivering, and we will continue to look at how we can use them further.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific steps being taken to expand pharmacy roles were not detailed.

How: Look At How We Can Use Pharmacies Further

Was this summary accurate? Tell us

How accurate was this summary? (1 = poor, 5 = spot on)

Get updates like this by email
Q2 Laurence Robertson Con
NHS
Context

The MP requests the government to ensure public awareness about the full range of services provided by pharmacies.

Question

I thank the Minister for that answer. Can we also make sure that the public are aware of everything that pharmacies can do, so that they can use them to take pressure off GPs?

Answer from Jo Churchill

Indeed we can. I would be honoured to work with my hon. Friend to do that so that people think “pharmacy first”. Pharmacies are delivering lateral flow devices into our communities; 500 of them have stood up to be vaccination sites; and we can now refer from NHS 111 and GPs into community pharmacies for the supply of prescribed medicine and for minor illnesses. We need our pharmacies to show their skill base; they are a highly skilled group that we should all be asking to do more and celebrating.

Answered
Was this summary accurate? Tell us

How accurate was this summary? (1 = poor, 5 = spot on)

Get updates like this by email