Rayleigh's Tory MP Mark Francois has challenged trade and industry secretary Patricia Hewitt to make the Government's position clear over the future of community pharmacies.
Mr Francois presented a petition signed by 2,500 constituents to Parliament in support of community pharmacies and was taking part in a debate on the issue called by Conservative MPs specifically to discuss their future.
He said after the debate a number of pharmacies in Essex were believed to be under threat in the light of a report from the Office of Fair Trading which potentially threatened their future with increased competition from supermarket chains.
During the debate, Mr Francois pointed out it was especially important in areas such as Rayleigh which had the fourth highest ratio of patients to GPs in the entire country.
In responding to the question, Ms Hewitt said she was aware of the point and she valued the role of pharmacists in giving advice to patients on using medicines.
Published Wednesday, June 25, 2003
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