2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

June

Wednesday 21 June 2006

All-Party Pharmacy Group AGM and summer reception - 21 June 2006

The Group held its AGM on 21 June 2006. Dr Howard Stoate, Baroness Tonge, Baroness Cumberlege and Mark Todd MP were all re-elected as Officers of the Group. Sandra Gidley MP was elected as Treasurer, replacing David Heath CBE MP.

A broad range of invited guests attended, including representatives of all the major health professions, patient groups, PCTs, parliamentarians, Department of Health officials NHS suppliers and journalists.

The Secretary of State for Health, Rt Hon Patricia Hewitt MP, was the Guest of Honour.

Download here an extract of Dr Stoate's speech.

Dr Howard Stoate MP speech

In her speech the Secretary of State spoke of how in the consultation exercise, Your Health, Your Care Your Say, the public clearly stated how much they valued pharmacists. She saw pharmacy as highly responsive to patients' needs. She welcomed the new contract for community pharmacy services and highlighted Medicine Use Reviews as a strong example of how pharmacists' expertise can improve healthcare for patients and deliver better outcomes. She cited pharmacists' role in public health and in spotting drug interactions as vitally important. She recognised the importance of stability within community pharmacy, in light of the Control of Entry review, and she pledged that IT improvements would flow via the National Programme for IT. She welcomed the APPG's Inquiry into the Future of Pharmacy and looked forward to the contribution it would make to policy development.

March

Tuesday 7 March 2006

Guest speaker Dr David Colin-Thome, National Clinical Director for Primary Care, Department of Health, outlined his views and answered questions in a debate on the Department of Health's White Paper, "Our health, our care, our say".

A report of the meeting can be read here;

Report of APPG meeting 0703061

January

Monday 23 January 2006

A special meeting was held with the Minister for Health, Rt Hon Jane Kennedy MP.  The Minister and officials from the Department of Health answered questions on a range of topics including the new community pharmacy contractual framework and developments in pharmacy services.