Pharmacy: Rural Areas
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure rural and semi-rural communities have access to pharmacies.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for understanding the health needs of their areas and for commissioning services to meet those needs. Local authorities are required to undertake a pharmaceutical needs assessment every three years to assess whether their population is adequately served and must keep these assessments under review. These assessments inform ICBs when reviewing applications for National Health Service pharmacies.
The Pharmacy Access Scheme provides additional funding to further support pharmacies in more remote areas. Additionally, in rural areas where there is no pharmacy, general practitioners are permitted to dispense medicines. Patients can also choose to access medicines and pharmacy services through any of the nearly 400 NHS online pharmacies that are contractually required to deliver prescription medicines free of charge to patients.
Verbatim has judged this answer against the question that was actually asked — answered, partly answered, or evaded. Sign in to see the verdict →