Sunak back in mother’s old pharmacy to unveil GP plan
THE Prime Minister could not hide his excitement about being back in his mother’s old family pharmacy yesterday as he rolled out plans to give the sector a boost.
Rishi Sunak, who worked as a boy in his mum’s shop in Southampton, yesterday unveiled new proposals to let pharmacists issue prescriptions for a string of common ailments.
The plans – which are designed to take the pressure off GP appointments – is propped up by funding of £ 45 million.
Speaking to the Daily Mail yesterday, Mr Sunak revealed he was inspired to expand the role of pharmacies after watching his mother form a ‘powerful connection’ with patients in her shop.
He said the issue was ‘personal to me’, adding: ‘My dad was a GP, my mum was a pharmacist. I grew up working for my mum – I worked in her pharmacy for years.
‘And so I saw first-hand how powerful the connection that she had with her patients was, how much they trusted her, but more generally how much people trust their local pharmacist. So it’s really personal to me, and that’s why what we’re announcing today, empowers patients so that they can get more services from pharmacists, but it also is a massive vote of confidence in our community pharmacies.’
Taking a trip down memory lane, he returned to the pharmacy run by his mother Usha until 2014. The modest shop, formerly known as the Sunak Pharmacy, is a far cry from the corridors of power he now inhabits, but he posed happily for selfies with locals. Mr Sunak said the new prescribing plans, due in place by winter, would make life easier for patients suffering minor complaints, as well as free up 15million GP appointments a year.
Mr Sunak appeared to acknowledge that the Government is likely to miss a target to increase the number of GPs by ,000 next year.
But a new workforce plan is set to boost training places by up to 50 per cent. Mr Sunak outlined the idea as industry groups warned more pharmacies will close unless ministers provide more funding to the ‘struggling’ sector.