Emergency review of community pharmacy services welcomed by Derry MLA

SDLP Foyle MLA Sinéad McLaughlin has welcomed the announcement of an emergency review into community pharmacy services.

It follows calls from the MLA in September for intervention to support community pharmacies.

Commenting, Ms. McLaughlin said: “I have been hearing from community pharmacies about the challenges they are facing and in September, I sounded the alarm about those pharmacies right here in Derry who are really struggling.

“Community pharmacies played a hugely important role during the pandemic and every day in Derry they help people with essential queries, they dispense vital medicines and they administer vaccines.

"They are more important now than ever perhaps, at a time when we are encouraging those eligible to come forward for both their flu and covid booster, so we can protect our health service as much as possible in the weeks ahead.

“The 3-year plan for community pharmacies is being left to gather dust on a shelf while the DUP sit on their hands and force our health service to grapple with ever increasing pressures.

"This emergency review is an important step, but we should have an Executive around the table that can agree a budget to properly fund these services. With every day that passes without a government, more services are put under untenable pressure.”