Government minister hears of concerns over Horsham pharmacies

And he has met up with pharmacy services minister Andrea Leadsom to discuss concerns.

“I am very aware of the difficulty many residents are facing when getting prescriptions fulfilled in a timely manner,” he said. “I recognise the worry and frustration this causes and I am absolutely determined to ensure our local services are functioning properly.”

He said he had met with a number of pharmacists to discuss how improvements could be made.

“I held a ‘pharmacy roundtable’ earlier in the year and I was very grateful to the many local pharmacists who attended and shared with me both the challenges the sector is facing but also where they are keen for the sector to do more to support patients and our wider NHS.

“Following that roundtable I wrote to the minister and I was pleased to be able to follow that up with a face to face meeting. The minister has taken action on a number of the points which will have a real benefit to pharmacists.”

He said that from this year, community pharmacists will be able to access patients’ records which would enable them to improve services between them and wider NHS services.

Have you read? Two children’s stores say a sad farewell to Horsham

Drivers warned of months of disruption as Horsham road closes

Community pharmacy contractors are also to be given more choice about how they deploy their staff and free more of pharmacists’ time for patient-facing clinical services.

Mr Quin says he is also following up with specific pharmacies locally where problems have been reported.