'Bureaucrats will not destroy our profession'

IAN Short (right) chief officer of the Oldham, Tameside and Glossop Local Pharmaceutical Committee, and local pharmacist, Mark Ashmore with Debbie Abrahams

THE defiant leader of the UK independent pharmacists has vowed to combat the government threat to high street chemists.

Uppermill-based Ian Strachan, chairman of the National Pharmacy Association, was speaking as a nationwide petition was to be presented to avert possible closures.

Speaking from London, he told the Chronicle: "We will come through this.

"Bureaucrats will not destroy a profession that's been around since 1660. Community pharmacy should be the solution not the problem."

The petition, spearheaded by 38 Degrees, highlights government's plans for cuts which could close thousands of pharmacies before Christmas.

38 Degrees is one of the UK's biggest campaigning communities, with millions of members.

"A wave of public pressure could tip the balance and keep our pharmacies open," it says.

"Pharmacies put a healthcare expert on every high street. They're here when we need advice - like late on a Saturday night when your child's cough is getting worse and you're not sure what to do.

"And thousands of us rely on nearby pharmacies to make sure we're never without the inhaler that could save our lives, or the daily medication that keeps us healthy.

"38 Degrees members believe everyone should have access to medicine, no matter where you live or how much money you've got.

"That means making sure we've all got a pharmacy close enough to home we can get to quickly when we're worried."

Mr Strachan (55), who has additional shops in Bury and Widnes, said the NPA represents more than 90 per cent of independent pharmacies, with 70 per cent of customers in the 60-plus age group.

Earlier this year, after presenting a petition to the then prime minister, David Cameron, he said proposals will damage the local high street and undermine communities.

"Ultimately the level of healthcare available to people will be worse."

He claimed the vast majority of the public are unaware of proposals relating to pharmacies and plans to cut funding or to put pharmacists in surgeries are poorly understood.

He said nearly all the pharmacies in England today are operating successfully because the demand from patients is there.

Government seem hell bent on closing at least 3000 pharmacies - 25 percent of the countries pharmacies," he said.

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