It is the statutory duty of every local authority in England to undertake pharmaceutical needs assessments for their areas including those that are rural in nature, every three years, to ensure provision continues to meet their population\u2019s needs. Integrated care boards have regard to those assessments when commissioning services and where a pharmacy closure impacts on the access to services, a new contractor can apply to open a pharmacy in the area.<\/p>
Patients who struggle to access pharmacy premises can access pharmacy services remotely through any of the over 400 online pharmacies that are contractually required to deliver medicines free of charge. Alternatively, in some rural areas, doctors are permitted to dispense medication to patients.<\/p>
The Pharmacy Access scheme provides additional funding to pharmacies in the areas where there are fewer pharmacies.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4948", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Markham"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lord Markham"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2024-04-26", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2024-04-26T13:21:30.423Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "17"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Health and Social Care"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Health and Social Care"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2024-04-17", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Pharmacy: Rural Areas"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have made an assessment of the impact of rural pharmacy closures on access to primary care.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4308", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for The Lord Bishop of St Albans"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "The Lord Bishop of St Albans"} ], "uin" : "HL3904"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1701634", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1701634/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
We plan to roll out the new combined Sustainable Farming Incentive and Countryside Stewardship offer during 2024, with applications opening from the summer. We will publish more information about this, and how farmers will be able to apply, ahead of applications opening. This will include setting out how farmers with existing Higher Level Stewardship, Countryside Stewardship and Sustainable Farming Incentive agreements will be able to access the new offer.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/5006", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Douglas-Miller"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lord Douglas-Miller"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2024-04-29", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "groupedQuestionUIN" : [{"_value" : "HL3861"} , {"_value" : "HL3862"} , {"_value" : "HL3863"} , {"_value" : "HL3864"} ], "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2024-04-29T14:18:17.303Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "13"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Environment, Food and Rural Affairs"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Environment, Food and Rural Affairs"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2024-04-16", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Countryside Stewardship Scheme"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask His Majesty's Government when the new Sustainable Farming Incentive and Countryside Stewardship actions can be added to areas already in the Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) agreement, particularly in upland areas where the HLS agreement has a linked Upland Entry Level Stewardship agreement.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4308", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for The Lord Bishop of St Albans"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "The Lord Bishop of St Albans"} ], "uin" : "HL3865"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 2, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }