Patients back doctors in row over pharmacy in Yapton

Both surgeries in the village '“ Yew Tree and Meadowcroft '“ have been inundated with support by letters, emails and petitions. The backing has been sent to West Sussex NHS Primary Care Trust for an appeal by the GPs about its decision to allow a company known as Shoo 434 to open a pharmacy 'in the vicinity of Main Road'. Government legislation states a GP surgery cannot dispense medication to anyone who lives within a mile of a pharmacy. Jerry Nelson, the practice business manager of Yew Tree Surgery operator Avisford Medical Group, said: "Patients in Yapton will not have to use the new pharmacy, but its very existence will prevent them from continuing to obtain their medication from the surgery's dispensary." This would mean an extra journey for patients used to collecting their prescriptions when they visit their GP and would also break the link between the dispensers and the GPs. "The net result is that the Yew Tree dispensary will, more than likely, be forced to close, thus causing even more inconvenience to more patients and resulting in six staff redundancies," Mr Nelson said. Practice manager Judith Walker, of The Croft Practice, said: "Yapton currently has the benefit of two doctors' surgeries which dispense for their patients. "This is felt by many to be a pivotal part of the extensive medical care which they receive from the practices. Patients and their families appreciate and value the service which the practices provide from their dispensaries. "They firmly believe that a new retail pharmacy in Yapton will result in less, not greater, choice for the local population, since it is highly probable the Meadowcroft and Avisford dispensaries will be forced to close." Meadowcroft patient and registered blind person Michael Coleman, 67, of Blenheim Road, said the end of dispensing at the village's two GP surgeries would affect many villagers. "I just have to go out of my front door and across the road and over Bilsham Road to reach my doctor. If the pharmacy opened, I would have to go all the way down to Main Road. A lot of older people can't walk that far. "They can only manage to go to their surgery and will find it very difficult to reach the pharmacy," he said. "Also, when I go to see my GP and I'm prescribed some tablets, they are ready for me by the time I go back to the reception. That's not going to happen with a pharmacy, is it? Yapton's never had a pharmacy and I don't know why we need one now." Yew Tree Surgery, on North End Road, has 6,000 patients of whom 3,800 can obtain their medicines there. Meadowcroft has fewer patients. Mr Nelson said the primary care trust had decided it was desirable to have a pharmacy in Yapton to provide more choice, even though it was not necessary. The GPs were encouraged by the support they had received from their patients and hoped it would cause the trust to think again, he added. Louise Hanney, the primary care trust's assistant head of primary care contracting and performance, said: "All applications to establish new pharmacies are considered by the pharmacy committee, which considers these matters on behalf of the trust. "The committee makes its decisions according to guidelines set at a national level. "The guidelines include an assessment of both existing pharmaceutical services in the area and the proposed services in the new pharmacy application. "We are aware an appeal has been lodged against the committee's decision, and so we are now awaiting more information from the appeals unit acting for the secretary of state." What do you think? Send a letter to news@chiobserver.co.uk or leave a comment below. Click here to go back to Chichester news Click here to go back to Bognor Regis news Click here to go back to Midhurst and Petworth news To tell us where in the world you are reading this story click here to add yourself to our readers' map.