Pharmacy Voice has welcomed confirmation that the government is reviewing its plans to enable hub and spoke dispensing across legal entities from October this year.
In a letter inviting Pharmacy Voice to take part in further discussions to explore the issues raised during the recent consultation, officials confirmed that they are ‘no longer working towards a commencement date of 1st October 2016…’ Instead, ‘… the Department will engage further with stakeholders’ representative bodies on the ‘hub and spoke’ element of the consultation before progressing any legislative changes…’
Chief Executive, Rob Darracott, said, ‘No one is against attempts to create a level playing in the options available to pharmacy businesses, but we do not believe these proposals would achieve this at the current time.
‘The detailed thinking that our members did, on behalf of their respective members and collectively across Pharmacy Voice, left many questions still to be answered on issues ranging from the implications for professional liability and regulation and for data sharing and consent, to the operational practicalities for businesses and the economic assumptions being made.
‘We look forward to further discussions with the Department over the coming weeks and hope they will take this opportunity to listen and engage with sector in a meaningful way.’
