Gibson backs campaign against Castletown pharmacy

[2little2late]

Why all the fuss? Is it not good for the village that a pharmacy will be opening? I do not understand the furore. How will it cause the closure of a GP surgery? You lot are so far behind with the times. I don't know if you all realise but Great Britain is now in the 21st. century.

[DMFB]

The furore is easy to understand.This is all down to financial loss not whats best for Castletown.The GPs stand to lose a fair chunk of cash if this pharmacy opens do they not. All this hype about it making it harder to recruit is just that hype.The patients having to go to Wick or Thurso hype it cant and wont happen. Remember the Gps themselves said its hard to recruit so WICK AND tHURSO WONT BE ABLE to get enough doctors to take on all these patients. Its already hard to recruit GPS to this area its been in the papers on many an occassion now.I dont know about anyone else but in all my years I realise this one thing when money comes in to the equation you see a lot of peoples true colours.THINK ON IT THIS WAY. tHE gpS HAVE IT THEIR WAY the pharmacy is refused.neither of them are spring chicks in my view so you are looking at them retiring in a few years. Then what? No pharmacy No GPs no service in the village to buy a bottle of medicine for a general cough cold. This service can run along side the medical practice the public should open their eyes to this one fact that no one seems to be noticing not even all the councillors this is all financially motivated the benefits for the refusal of this pharmacy being refused are for who Joe public or the GPs.

[donnick]

2little2late I take it that you read absolutely nothing on this subject before writing this post .

[DMFB]

Im sure 2little2late has read whats in the papers on this subject havent we all.The point is that is the information correct will the surgery close will the patients go to Wick and Thirso I think not or will the surgery continue with less cash for the GPs because they no longer have a dispensary. Who lets face it will be the biggest losers if a pharmacy opens in the village. A pharmacy can work alongside the GPs after all they have pharmacies in Thurso and Wick the Gps in those surgerys dont have the extra cash generated from a dispensary in the surgery.The villagers will be able to access a lot more than just tablets the pharmacist and staff can be recruited from the staff in the gp practice and then once the GPs retire which will be sooner rather than later Castletown at least will still have a pharmacy even if as the Gps themselves have stated no replcement gp can be found and the practice does eventulaly close.Im sure there is much more to this than meets the eye and I for one think that as usual its all down to money not whats best for the people of the area. This is my hummble oppinion and ive been around for enough years to recognise scaremongering when I see it even if others dont.

[linnie612]

Is there a dispensing pharmacist attached to the surgery?

[cptdodger]

Is there a dispensing pharmacist attached to the surgery?

There is a dispensary in the surgery, but when I phoned to speak to the pharmacist (I did'nt want to bother the doctor) I was told they did'nt have one, so ended up seeing the doctor anyway.

[linnie612]

Thanks cptdodger, that's what I thought.

[cptdodger]

Thanks cptdodger, that's what I thought.

No problem, I thought it a bit strange myself, as when I worked in a Pharmacy years ago, you could not hand out prescriptions without a Pharmacist being present. I would imagine a doctor would supersede a Pharmacist though.

[sids]

In this country, you are usually allowed to open a shop.

[ducati]

This issue affects the people of Castletown and Canisbay and surroundings who rely on the surgery. It's close to unanimous that no-one wants it. I don't think we are interested in what anyone else thinks.

I hope we can be equally unanimous in boycotting it if it does open. That means no nipping in for nappies etc.

[cptdodger]

This was on the BBC News Website regarding the Pharmacy after the public meeting "NHS Highland said the service would be unaffected." The other surgeries in Thurso and presumably Wick survive without a dispensary, why would Castletown be any different ?

[sids]

This issue affects the people of Castletown and Canisbay and surroundings who rely on the surgery. It's close to unanimous that no-one wants it. I don't think we are interested in what anyone else thinks.

I hope we can be equally unanimous in boycotting it if it does open. That means no nipping in for nappies etc.

If there's insufficient trade, the shop will close.

Gangs of scowling pensioners (that's what the hall meeting looked like in the paper) shouldn't have the power to stop a business opening.

[Big Gaz]

An elderly couple i know who live in JOG have been told that if the doctors lose the dispensary in Castletown then they will have to consider closing the surgery in Canisbay, thus leaving them a 15 mile journey to see a doctor/get prescriptions so is somebody somewhere scaremongering to get support

[mi16]

I am sure there ae many folk who have to travel in excess of a 15 mile / 30 minute journey to see their GP.

[cptdodger]

I was told on the other thread regarding the meeting that the reason Castletown and Canisbay and Halkirk surgeries have dispensaries is, they are five miles away from the nearest Pharmacy. While having a Pharmacy will affect the dispensary in the Castletown Surgery, as Canisbay is approx 12 miles from Castletown and about 16 miles from Wick, why would it affect the Canisbay surgery, at all ?

[badger]

It's obvious many people on here don't understand what is going on - you might find some answers on this website http://www.saveoursurgery.co.uk/documents/

[Alrock]

Personally what upsets me the most about all of this is the loss of a mighty fine chip shop.

[ducati]

If there's insufficient trade, the shop will close.

Gangs of scowling pensioners (that's what the hall meeting looked like in the paper) shouldn't have the power to stop a business opening.

If the scowling pensioners are the potential customers you would think the shop wouldn't want to open. Personally, I hope if they do go against the wishes of the townfolk, it costs them a lot of money to realise they were wrong. (then maybe they will think twice elsewhere).

[gollach]

Has anybody else ever taken their prescription into a pharmacy and the pharmacist has had to contact the GP surgery due to an issue with the new medication? It's happened to me several times. Different GP surgeries have prescribed things that can't be taken with my long term medication.

Who provides this double check for the patients of Casltetown & Canisbay surgeries? At present, they will only get their prescription checked by a qualified pharmacist if they travel to Wick or Thurso.

[sids]

If the scowling pensioners are the potential customers you would think the shop wouldn't want to open. Personally, I hope if they do go against the wishes of the townfolk, it costs them a lot of money to realise they were wrong. (then maybe they will think twice elsewhere).

There may be potential customers who are not part of the campaign.