PHARMACIES in Ryedale are backing a campaign opposing cuts to services.

The Support Your Local Pharmacy Campaign, which includes a petition of more than 1.5 million signatures, has said the Government wants to divert investment away from pharmacies which they have claimed would force chemists to close.

A letter published by the Department of Health (DH) and NHS England in December states that funding for the community pharmacy service in 2016/17 will be reduced by £170m from the agreed sum in 2015/16, to £2.63bn, as well as setting out a number of other wide-ranging policy ideas.

Neil Beecham, owner of Beecham Pharmacy, which has two branches in Norton, said: “Community pharmacies are more than a great value dispensing service – we provide health information, advice and interventions.

"We are a trusted and very accessible part of primary care and feel the general public recognise and value it. Community pharmacies are the closest point of access for many patients and build a strong relationship with their regular patients and the wider community.

“The proposed government cutbacks will put a number of small independent pharmacies at risk, often the ones in the more remote rural locations.

“The government’s proposals do not take into account what more pharmacies can do in the way of services to relieve the pressures on GPs and Hospitals. This is just an arbitrary cut which will have a major impact on patients and their communities. It feels like a repeat situation of the junior doctors contract all over, the government have decided what they are going to do and we have to fall in line.”

The National Pharmacy Association has been working with other national pharmacy organisations, the Department of Health and NHS England to convince policy makers of the need to make better use of community pharmacy.

This work included putting a counter proposal to the NHS, setting out how community pharmacy could be used to make the £170m savings while also improving care for patients.

Peter Cattee, chairman of the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee's (PSNC) funding and contract subcommittee, and CEO of PCT Healthcare, said: “In our meetings with the Department of Health and NHS England, it has become clear that they have little interest in commissioning additional national community pharmacy services or in our constructive proposals to make better use of community pharmacy to help the NHS to make savings.

"The Government appear unshaken in their determination to remove a sum of £170m from community pharmacy funding this year, and to do so via reductions in fees and allowances.

"As a committee of contractors PSNC is extremely concerned about this and we continue to work with the other pharmacy organisations seeking to persuade policy makers of the value of community pharmacy and the dangers in implementing a funding reduction of this nature."

Anyone who would like to sign the petition can do so at Beecham Pharmacy in Commercial Street and Norton Road, Norton.