A CONSULTATION has been launched over an application to establish the first ever pharmacy on the Uists amid concerns over the impact on local practices.
Some locals fear that if the pharmacy is established it would take away the dispensing role the GPs perform and leave some patients with a round trip of up to 60 miles to pick up a prescription.
Last month NHS Western Isles received an application from Local Pharmacies Ltd to provide pharmaceutical services from premises in Balivanich, on Benbecula.
The implications for the North Uist and Benbecula practices are that they could lose the revenue stream from dispensing, which it is argued could lead to the loss of dispensing and possibly medical staff and could have a knock-on effect on out-of-hours services, it is said.
Letters are being sent to each household on the lists of the GP surgeries affected, together with the local MP, MSP, local councillors and community councils, in the two areas of Benbecula and North Uist. Consultation events will be held this month on the two islands.
Alasdair Allan, the SNP MSP for the Western Isles, has raised the concerns with Health Secretary Alex Neil and will be making representations highlighting the implications. He urged others to do likewise.
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