Dear David Mowat,

Re: Community Pharmacy Funding

We are writing following your response to the Urgent Question in the House on community pharmacy funding on 17 October, during which the House may have been misled by several glaring factual inaccuracies in your remarks.

Your response contained a number of self-evident errors, apparent contradictions and statements that were at odds with existing Government policy. There is widespread opposition to the Government’s apparent determination to plough ahead with cuts to community pharmacies. The Government is failing to reassure a concerned public that it fully understands the impact of a budget cut for community pharmacies and it leaves the impression that Ministers are simply not on top of their brief. 

We would be grateful if you could clarify your remarks and answer the following questions as a matter of urgency:

·         During your response, you stated that a Minor Ailments Scheme would be commissioned by the Government and implemented across England by April 2018:

“We will do just the same with a minor ailments scheme, which will be commissioned right across the country so that, by April 2018, pharmacists will be paid—over and above any money that comes out of this settlement—for minor ailments work on things such as earache and so on.”

However, today a Department of Health spokesperson denied that the Government would be commissioning any such scheme. Will the Department of Health be progressing with commissioning and implementing a Minor Ailments Scheme or not?

·         You made a commitment to the House that “no community will be left without a pharmacy”. Yet repeatedly in the House of Commons you made statements suggesting pharmacies will be forced to close and that you have no idea how many or where these closures will take place. How are you in a position to make this commitment at the same time as pushing through a package of cuts that could force an unspecified number of community pharmacies to close in areas that you are also unable to specify?

·         You said in your remarks that “nobody is talking about thousands of pharmacies closing”, yet it was your predecessor, Alistair Burt MP, who estimated that up to 3,000 community pharmacies could close because of Government cuts. Will you now provide an estimate on how many community pharmacies will close?

·         You claimed that every community pharmacy received £25,000 of Government funding per annum, but this is not true. There are at least 560 community pharmacies which do not qualify for the Establishment Payment. Will you take this opportunity to withdraw this remark?

You told the House that you want “to do the right thing” for community pharmacies. No one would disagree with that intention, but following your deeply worrying performance in the Commons this week, it was clear from all sides of the House that there is little confidence that this will translate into reality. 

In light of the public interest matter, we are making a copy of this letter available to the public.

Yours sincerely,

Michael Dugher MP                                                         Jonathan Ashworth MP

MP for Barnsley East                                                         Shadow Health Secretary

                                                                                   MP for Leicester South