Highland Primary Care Nhs Trust
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
PHARMACY PRACTICES COMMITTEE MEETING Tuesday, 30 October, 2012 at 1.30 pm Seminar Room, Migdale Hospital, Cherry Grove, Bonar Bridge, IV24 3ER Application by Gareth Dixon of MITCHELLS CHEMIST LTD for the provision of general pharmaceutical services at The Former Bonar Bridge News, Dornoch Road, Bonar Bridge, IV24 3EB PRESENT Okain Maclennan (Chair) Margaret Thomson (Lay Member) Michael Roberts (Lay member) Susan Taylor (GP Sub Committee Nominate) Fiona Thomson (APC Non Contractor Nominate) John McNulty (APC Contractor Nominate) In Attendance Andrew J Green (Area Regulations, Contracts & Controlled Drugs Governance Pharmacist) Helen M MacDonald (Community Pharmacy Business Manager) Gareth Dixon, Mitchells Chemist Ltd, Applicant Donna Gillespie, Mitchells Chemist Ltd, Applicant Support Christopher Mair, GP Sub Committee Andrew Paterson, Area Pharmaceutical Committee Observers Nicola Macdonald (APC Contractor Nominate NHS Highland PPC Member in training) 1. The Chair welcomed everyone to Bonar Bridge. He asked all members to confirm that they had all received the papers for the hearing and had read and considered them. All members affirmed these points. 2. APPLICATION FOR INCLUSION IN THE BOARD’S PHARMACEUTICAL LIST Case No: PPC – Bonar Bridge, Sutherland. Mitchells Chemist Ltd, The former Bonar Bridge News, Dornoch Road, Bonar Bridge, IV24 3EB. The Chair asked each Committee member if there were any interests to declare in relation to the application being heard from Mitchells Chemist Ltd. No interests were declared. 3. The Committee was asked to consider the application submitted by Mitchells Chemist Ltd to provide general pharmaceutical services from premises sited at The former Bonar Bridge News, Dornoch Road, Bonar Bridge, IV24 3EB under Regulation 5(10) of the National Health Service (Pharmaceutical Services) (Scotland) Regulations 2009, as amended. The Committee had to determine whether the granting of the application was necessary or desirable to secure the adequate provision of pharmaceutical services in the neighbourhood in which the Applicant’s proposed premises were located. The Committee, having previously been circulated with all the papers regarding the application from Mitchells Chemist Ltd, agreed that the application should be considered by oral hearing. P1 Signed Copy of Mitchells Chemist Ltd Dornoch _ PPC 30 October 2012 NOTES.doc Prior to the hearing, the Committee had, as a group, visited the neighbourhood as defined by the applicant surrounding the applicant’s proposed premises, which comprised three primary schools, post offices, churches, community halls, a day care centre, community hospital, hotels and holiday accommodation (including lodges and B&Bs), golf and football clubs, youth hostel, country estates, a visitor centre and shops where other daily needs and services were accessed, including fuel and the Highland Council service point. There was no secondary school, or dental practice in the proposed neighbourhood. After a visit of the proposed pharmacy premises, facilitated by the applicant, the Committee walked past the car park immediately behind the proposed pharmacy premises to view the site of the GP practice where parking available for patients and surgery access was noted. The hearing was convened under paragraph 3(2) of Schedule 3 to the National Health Service (Pharmaceutical Services) (Scotland) Regulations 2009 as amended (“the Regulations”). In terms of this paragraph, the Pharmacy Practices Committee “shall determine an application in such a manner as it thinks fit”. In terms of Regulation 5(10) of the Regulations, the question for the Pharmacy Practices Committee is whether “the provision of pharmaceutical services at the premises named in the application is necessary or desirable to secure adequate provision of pharmaceutical service in the neighbourhood in which the premises are located by persons whose names are included in the Pharmaceutical List.” The Applicant, Support and Interested parties were invited into the meeting at around 1.30 pm 4. The Chair welcomed:- The applicant, Gareth Dixon of Mitchells Chemist Ltd who was supported by Donna Gillespie, the Interested Parties who had submitted written representations during the consultation period and who had chosen to attend the hearing, were Christopher Mair, GP Sub Committee and Andrew Paterson, Area Pharmaceutical Committee (“the Interested Parties”). The Chair then invited the Committee members to introduce themselves. Committee members introduced themselves to the applicant and all other parties, and all other parties introduced themselves to the Committee. The Chair asked the applicant and the Interested Parties to confirm that they were not attending the Committee in the capacity of solicitor, counsel or paid advocate. They each confirmed that they were not. 5. The Chair reminded everyone that the meeting had been convened to hear the application from Mitchells Chemist Ltd for the provision of general pharmaceutical services at the former Bonar Bridge News, Dornoch Road, Bonar Bridge, IV24 3EB. The application would be considered against the legal test contained in Regulation 5(10) of the National Health Service (Pharmaceutical Services) (Scotland) Regulations 2009, as amended. 6. Regulation 5(10) was read out: An application shall be granted if the Board is satisfied that the provision of the pharmaceutical services at the premises is necessary or desirable in order to secure adequate provision of pharmaceutical services in the neighbourhood in which the premises are located. 7. The Chair then described the format of the hearing, reminding those attending that no new evidence could be introduced at the summing up. P2 Signed Copy of Mitchells Chemist Ltd Dornoch _ PPC 30 October 2012 NOTES.doc The procedure adopted by the Committee at the hearing was that the Chair asked the applicant to make his submission. There followed the opportunity for the Interested Parties and the Committee to ask questions. The Interested Parties would then make their submissions. There followed the opportunity for the applicant and the Committee to ask questions of the Interested Parties in turn. The Interested Parties and the applicant would then be given the opportunity to sum up. The Chair then asked the applicant to give his statement. 7.1. The Applicant’s Case Gareth Dixon of Mitchells Chemist Ltd stated “Thank you very much, I shall try and be brief. Mitchells Chemist Ltd in Dornoch was taken over by wife and I in 2006 and a second pharmacy in Golspie was purchased in 2011. The company has a proven record of working in small rural Highland communities and for being active and enthusiastic regarding the provision of new and existing services. The Dornoch branch has over 50% more minor ailment service patients (MAS) registered compared to the Highland average and 58% above that for chronic medication service (CMS) patients registered above the highland average. Patients are actively encouraged to access advice and health services e.g. smoking cessation and we are very active with health promotion though our social networking sites and we support other causes such as “Wear it Pink Day” for breast cancer and “Movember”. We also provide additional services including blood pressure, diabetes and cholesterol checks, and the provision of private flu vaccinations is also available. Since acquiring the Golspie pharmacy in November 2011, we have pushed for CMS registrations to have been increased from 3 patients to 149 patients in August 2012, bringing the number of registrations up to the Scottish average within 7 months. This demonstrates that patients in this type of rural community like to engage with these services and that the pharmacies are always trying to provide a high class pharmaceutical service. In May 2012 the Dornoch smoking cessation quit rate was 44% compared to 41% for Highland and 39% for Scotland, thereby proving a higher than average patient engagement is possible in a small rural environment. This hopefully leads to an overall health improvement in the communities in which pharmacies are situated. Although Dornoch and Golspie have relatively small rural communities, they have both proved to be very successful at achieving positive health outcomes. I am just trying to show that we have a proven record of providing pharmaceutical services in these types of communities. With regard to the proposed neighbourhood boundaries and as with most rural Highland communities, which I am sure you have seen this morning, this extends over a large geographical area and, although there are distinct communities within the neighbourhood, we believe that Bonar Bridge is where these communities come together to access their services I’ve tried to describe the proposed neighbourhood by starting at Spinningdale on the A949, heading north to Bonar Bridge including the surrounding areas on this road. From Bonar Bridge it would reach as far south as Fearn along the A836 including Ardchronie and Kincardine. Then west to Croick including Ardgay and West Gruinards. To the north along the A836 to Achinduich and along the A837 as far as Oykel Bridge including Inveran and Rosehall and also east as far as Migdale including Tulloch, Ardens and Achuan. As for the existing population, the GP practice populations in the area I have taken appear to be remaining fairly static over the last 9 years - that is the GPs in the Sutherland area which I have compared. P3 Signed Copy of Mitchells Chemist Ltd Dornoch _ PPC 30 October 2012 NOTES.doc Currently Lairg, Golspie