The Liberal Democrat MP Richard Foord has told parliament that although the launch of Pharmacy First “is good in theory,” community pharmacies “are on their knees” as they try to contend with rising workload.

Foord (pictured), the party’s MP for Tiverton and Honiton in Devon, said pharmacies in his constituency are suffering from a workforce crisis that has been exacerbated by a 20 per cent cut in “levels of trained support staff,” which in turn has led to pharmacy closures.

“We are seeing the closure of pharmacies in rural and coastal towns such as Axminster and Sidmouth, with a constituent telling me that queues at the pharmacy in Axminster are out the door," he said. 

Foord urged the government to “make time for a debate on recognising the value of community pharmacies,” which prompted the Leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt to insist no prime minister can be “better placed to recognise the importance of pharmacy" than Rishi Sunak, whose mother used to run a pharmacy in Southampton.

Insisting the government does “recognise the value of community pharmacies,” she said: “That is why we have not only enabled the Pharmacy First service to be stood up, but worked on it for a number of years. It is now available to all members of the public, but there were trailblazer programmes prior to that for people who were on benefits.

“Some 98 per cent of pharmacies are now making use of the scheme, which also enables them to derive an income from it. That is progress to be supported and welcomed.”

Mordaunt said she hoped Foord would “promote the scheme in his constituency.”

Image: www.parliament.uk