A Fife community has reacted with fury and dismay after a ruling that will ban their local GP surgery from dispensing medicines.
NHS Fife has ruled that Balmullo Surgery must stop dispensing from May 2012 and said there is no right of appeal. The decision contradicts one by a different NHS Fife committee in December that the surgery could continue to dispense to its patients.
The announcement by the health board is the latest twist in a long and controversial saga that has led to the resignation of the village’s GPs and a reduced service for patients.
It began three years ago with an application to open a pharmacy in Leuchars, which did not have such a service. Until then, Pitcairn Practice, which operates the GP surgeries in Leuchars and Balmullo, had been the only dispenser of medicines in the villages.
But under NHS regulations a GP practice can only dispense drugs if patients would otherwise have serious difficulties in obtaining them and, because there is a new pharmacy in Leuchars, the practice there will cease dispensing on May 27.
The announcement that the Balmullo practice will also have to stop dispensing has come as a bombshell to local people who say elderly patients and people with young children will be particularly disadvantaged.
The special committee that met late in April following a legal challenge to the original decision, concluded there were no grounds to permit the continuation of dispensing for people served by the Balmullo surgery.
In a statement to The Courier, an NHS Fife spokeswoman said, “This decision follows the regulations and reflects the move in NHS Scotland to give patients access to the full range of pharmaceutical services from a community pharmacist rather than being limited to dispensing from a GP practice.Great benefit”The decision in no way reflects on Pitcairn Practice or the quality of service it provides. The board is aware that Pitcairn Practice is very disappointed with this decision as they believe the dispensing service was of great benefit to the practice population.”
She said nine community pharmacies were within a 10-mile radius of the Balmullo surgery, some of which have extended weekend opening and offer a home delivery service for prescribed medicines.
Zoe Sanders, who chairs Balmullo Community Council, called the latest decision “extraordinary” and added, “The whole unpleasantness of this performance has ended with the doctor who started the practice leaving and his partner also leaving. I think this will disappoint everybody in Balmullo, who feel very hard done by.
“We don’t feel it’s been a very fair hearing, it’s been weighted against the Balmullo doctors. It’s very sad.”
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Mrs Sanders said the ruling would make a huge difference to local people, stating, “Elderly people will have to get on one or two buses as nobody can walk to a pharmacy from Balmullo.
“There are a lot or elderly people and a lot of mums with young children who were able to get medicines for their little ones without having to travel.”
Local councillor Tim Brett said he was “bitterly disappointed” by the decision, particularly after the December committee had ruled that the surgery could continue dispensing.
“There was great relief at that point but the health board have now changed that decision which I think is regrettable and means many people in Balmullo and the surrounding community will be inconvenienced,” he said.
“I’m especially disappointed the special committee took no account of the support there was in the community for the service to continue 1100 people turned up to two public meetings and many more either wrote to or emailed the health board about this.”