Don’t lose this asset

There must be a lot of folk like myself who need repeat prescriptions who cannot fail to have seen the TV advertising campaigns offering free delivery of repeats.

This must seem like a dream come true for those who are unable to collect their prescriptions either because of work commitments or infirmity.

However from my experience, and most other people I have spoken to, it would appear that most GP practices will already have in place a scheme whereby repeats are sent to a local pharmacy.

They then fill the prescription and deliver free of charge.

The main thing to be aware of here is that it is a local pharmacy that is involved in this process and not some faceless big company.

Should these faceless companies gain any sort of following it would surely lead to the demise of our local pharmacies.

This is a service that we cannot afford to lose.

I find it strange that the Government is not preventing these companies from operating as the demise of our local pharmacies would impact on their strategy of using pharmacists as first line of advice for minor complaints.

I would urge local MPs to address this issue with the Government as soon as possible before it is too late and we loose another valuable community asset.

John Blakey