Threat to our Medical Services In Castletown Meeting Called

Hi Everyone,
Just to let everyone know about a meeting taking place in Castletown Drill Hall on Wednesday 20th November @ 7.30pm.
This is to discuss an Application by Apply Pharmacy Group to open a Pharmacy in Castletown where the current Chip Shop is.
Many of us are against this happening as it will lead to the loss of services from Castletown Doctors Surgery and also Canisbay Surgery.

There is a Facebook page about this and also document response from Castletown Doctors.

https://www.facebook.com/SayNotoApplePharmacyGroup

Document
https://db.tt/UlRlycZY

Why not a community buy out?

Having read the relevant FB page, Doctors' letter etc. Apple's application seems pretty pointless. If Apple's actions diminished the surgeries at Castletown and Canisbay to the point of closure. It is envisaged that patients transfer to medical centres in Wick or Thurso, so surely it follows that these same patients will get their prescriptions from Wick or Thurso pharmacies while they are there. Someone in Apple needs to think this through properly.

It is interesting that at the meeting of the NHS Highland Pharmacy Practices Committee on Tuesday 8^th October Sanjay Majhi of Apple Pharmacy Group applied to provide general pharmaceutical services at Milton of Leys, Inverness. Ms Danielle McTaggart of Apple Pharmacy Group opened the Applicant’s case by saying, “Any new application must be considered in terms of the legal test: Is the application necessary or desirable in order to secure the adequate provision of pharmaceutical services in the neighbourhood in which the premises are located.”
Can I suggest that the requirements of the Legal Test are already adequately fulfilled by our Medical Centres at Castletown and Canisbay.

It will be a tough fight going by Apple's recent strategy of employing lawyers to fight for their case. They rubbished other pharmacies, made claims and other accusations to try to get their case through. They don't lie down easy! Sanjay Majhi even has his own website where he spouts the praise of Aplle and what they can do better than other pharmacies. Not a nice bunch to have in the neighbourhood

Why can the Castletown Dr's not continue to dispense medicine from the surgery as well as have a Pharmacy in the village? There are three Pharmacy's in close proximity in Thurso that seem to do okay. Personally speaking, rather than take up the Doctors valuable time, i will seek advice from a pharmacist first, when it comes to minor things. I am just talking about pharmacies in general, as I have never heard of this Apple Pharmacy.

Any new application must be considered in terms of the legal test: Is the application necessary or desirable in order to secure the adequate provision of pharmaceutical services in the neighbourhood in which the premises are located.”


That is the key to beating this application.........necessary or desirable. All letters to the power's that b, must say it is NO necessary or desirable.

An online petition is now available as well as paper petitions in both Doctor Surgeries, Castletown Post Office and various premises around Castletown & Canisbay Areas.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/say-no-to-the-opening-of-a-pharmacy/

There are also templates, contact names & addresses of where to send your letters and other information available for download.

There files can be accessed from here:- http://bit.ly/1gtaaTu

The template is to show the type of letter needed; the damage to the surgery is not part of the Pharmacy Services consideration.
The Committee will only be interested in the necessity & desirability of their being a chemist in Castletown.

The only reason I can see for Apple to want to put their pharmacy in Castletown is to skim off the profit from the dispensing of drugs, medication etc. We should be asking ourselves do we want the profit to be managed by our local Health Care Team and used to provide additional services; or do we care if it goes to into Apple's shareholders' back pocket?
I know I'd rather any profit stayed in the community.

Ref Monies going out of the community does money not go out of the community through tescos, other major supermarkets a well known pizza truck,but i see people queing up while other small buissness are closing down or are we happy with having charity shops and takeaways?????

An Apple a day will keep the doctor away, quite literally.
There is no need for the new pharmacy due to the fantastic treatment and service received in the Castletown medical center.
I moved 31 miles from Castletown in August but I am still registered there as nowhere else in the county comes close.
I strongly disagree with anything that has the potential to affect this great service

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JSutherland-West

Document
https://db.tt/UlRlycZY

---

Can't get the above link to work??

Apologies KILTIECAULDBUM here is the updated link.

https://db.tt/XJTcmTSj

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by cptdodger

Why can the Castletown Dr's not continue to dispense medicine from the surgery as well as have a Pharmacy in the village? There are three Pharmacy's in close proximity in Thurso that seem to do okay. Personally speaking, rather than take up the Doctors valuable time, i will seek advice from a pharmacist first, when it comes to minor things. I am just talking about pharmacies in general, as I have never heard of this Apple Pharmacy.

---

Judging by what happened here in Fife (Google "leuchars pharmacy application") then what is almost guaranteed is:
The application will be granted (on appeal if necessary)
and
The surgery's pharamacy service will be forced to stop.

Good luck!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jimbews

Judging by what happened here in Fife (Google "leuchars pharmacy application") then what is almost guaranteed is:
The application will be granted (on appeal if necessary)
and
The surgery's pharamacy service will be forced to stop.

Good luck!

---

I'm originally from Broughty Ferry and know Leuchars and St Andrews quite well. I have just looked at the Apple Pharmacy website and noticed they have a Pharmacy in Dundee, which I do'nt think was there when I was. The question I have is, who is it that is actually going to force the surgery to stop dispensing? What I am trying to understand is - is there a rule in the NHS that says if you have a pharmacy in a (any) Village, you cannot have a dispensary in a Doctors Surgery?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by cptdodger

I'm originally from Broughty Ferry and know Leuchars and St Andrews quite well. I have just looked at the Apple Pharmacy website and noticed they have a Pharmacy in Dundee, which I do'nt think was there when I was. The question I have is, who is it that is actually going to force the surgery to stop dispensing? What I am trying to understand is - is there a rule in the NHS that says if you have a pharmacy in a (any) Village, you cannot have a dispensary in a Doctors Surgery?

---

The surgery is invited by the Health Board to dispense in the absence of a pharmacy within 5 miles of the Practice. As soon as a pharmacy opens in close proximity ie within 5 miles, the surgery is no longer allowed to dispense as per rules and regs.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by vcm108

The surgery is invited by the Health Board to dispense in the absence of a pharmacy within 5 miles of the Practice. As soon as a pharmacy opens in close proximity ie within 5 miles, the surgery is no longer allowed to dispense as per rules and regs.

---

That clears it up, thanks for your reply. I have never lived in a place (until I moved to Caithness) that had dispensaries in Doctors surgeries.

Hi Everyone,
I have create a website to hold all the documents, links and any other relevant information.
This saves link to files from dropbox going wrong and people not seeing links on Facebook due to comments.

http://sos.clientsites.org.uk/

This seems to be purely an example of people who don't like change creating a fuss.

So, the surgeries provide ALL the products and services that this pharmacy shop will provide ? Don't think so.

And the surgeries will be open all the hours that the pharmacy shop will be ? Don't think so.

It's not that the surgeries CAN'T dispense - surely it's the case that they will no longer be SUBSIDISED to dispense. A surgery is run as a private business so surely if it wants to be a commercial dispensing pharmacy too, then it can go ahead and compete.

the chip shop has been up for sale for some time now sanjay is the only person to show a great deal of interest in buying it and turning it into a chemist, hes not coming up to be a doctor so therefor the doctors will still have their jobs and he has already offered the ladies in the dispensary bit a job in the chemist i personally don't see a problem with it but everyone is entitled to their own opinion i suppose... :)