End of GP surgery predicted as fees go

Mar 13 2008 by Ben Guy, The Journal

THE future is looking bleak for a doctors’ surgery which serves 4,000 patients after plans for a new pharmacy were approved.

Northumberland Care Trust has backed an application to open a pharmacy in Widdrington Station, near Morpeth, despite the proposal being fiercely opposed by villagers.

The move means that by law the dispensary at the surgery will have to close, meaning a major loss of income and a cut in services.

The surgery relies on the income it gets from dispensing – but the doctors would be forbidden from dispensing prescriptions because of the new pharmacy.

Health chiefs at Northumberland Care Trust last night insisted services would not be cut in Widdrington.

But villager Tommy Lovell, who is chairman of the Save our Surgery action group, said he was very disappointed with the trust decision.

He said: “The doctors want to run as good a health centre as they possibly can – we have a superb surgery there and a lot of that is funded through the dispensary.

“For a small village we are very lucky and it is all being put at risk for no reason.

“The doctors are going to have to make a decision as to what they want to do for their future – it puts them in a very difficult position financially.”

Dr Chris Waite, one of two GPs at the surgery – the other is his wife, Dr Yvonne Lees – was unavailable for comment yesterday, but last month he told The Journal that if the pharmacy was approved, the surgery could be forced to close within a year.

He said the loss of income would definitely lead to one doctor being laid off, along with five dispensary staff.

Coun Arnold Baker, Castle Morpeth borough councillor for neighbouring Lynemouth and Ellington, is a patient there and said the damage done to the surgery would have wider implications as patients would have to travel to other practices.

He said: “I am absolutely horrified and disgusted by this decision.”

The surgery serves an area of about 4,000 people and has about 3,050 patients.

Villagers raised a petition with 1,700 signatures opposing the new pharmacy.

The proposal has been put forward by two men from Manchester at an as yet undisclosed location in Widdrington.

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Chemist's shop will offer more services

NORTHUMBERLAND Care Trust said the application for a pharmacy in Widdrington had been granted on the grounds that it provided a broader range of services for local people.

Strategic head of commissioning Julie Ross said that in addition to dispensing prescription medication, the pharmacy, which would open on Saturday mornings as well as weekdays, would sell over-the-counter medicines and provide a wide range of services.

She said: "Currently people living in Widdrington have access to a dispensing service at the GP practice for prescription medicines only. The panel considering the application concluded that the community pharmacy would provide local people with access to a range of services not currently available to them. These would include immediate access to a healthcare professional for advice about how to treat minor illnesses without having to make an appointment to see a GP or practice nurse.

"Other services would include home deliveries for people unable to go to the pharmacy to collect medication, repeat dispensing without the need for patients to order a prescription from the GP surgery, the sale of a wide range of over- the-counter medicines and services to help people stay healthy, such as stop- smoking advice.

"We were aware of opposition to this application, but we must act in accordance with regulations and ensure that the best interests of patients are met. Given the benefits that will be delivered by the opening of a community pharmacy in the village, there was no reason not to grant this application." She said: "The practice receives two separate funding streams – one to provide GP services and the other to provide dispensing services.

"The first is through the personal medical services agreement that the practice has with Northumberland Care Trust.

"The level of funding that the practice receives under this contract is sufficient to pay for the GP posts required for a practice of this size.

"The second funding stream is to pay for staff to provide a dispensing service … It is not to fund medical or nursing posts outside the dispensing provision.

"We would like to reassure patients that all existing GP services at the Widdrington practice should continue without change as they are funded separately through the PMS agreement."