Chemist's delight at Assembly vote (From Penarth Times)

Chemist's delight at Assembly vote

PENARTH chemists are celebrating this week after the Welsh Assembly rejected plans to allow pharmacies to open where they want.

Traders were delighted at the news, which follows their rigorous local campaign.

As reported in the Times, Penarth chemists had collected 1,000 signatures from customers in a bid to halt the deregulation plans put forward by the Office of Fair Trading.

Pete Steen, owner of Station Pharmacy Royal Buildings said: "We are very pleased that the public support has helped our cause.

We have had more than 1,000 signatures on our petition which we passed on to Health Minister Jane Hutt."

He added: "The pressure from the press and from public opinion has swayed the government. Chemists around Penarth have had a great response and even the small dispensary at Stanwell Road has had a lot of signatures.

This campaign has a lot in common with the closing of post offices because our customers don't want to see us close."

Health Minister, Jane Hutt said: "I think that some important questions have been raised as to the robustness on which the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) recommendations are based.

"There is a view that the report has made recommendations with consideration only to the competition aspect without examining the impact on NHS services."

Washington Pharmacies on Stanwell Road, Penarth also ran a petition.

Christine Davies owner and pharmacist at the chemist said: "The support from customers has been overwhelming.

We have collected more than 900 signatures since we opened the petition a few weeks ago."

She added: "The industry is still unsure if the deregulation is going to be put into practice but we are closer to resolving the situation."

The actual decision on the OFT recommendations will be responded to by the UK Government on Thursday April 17, which is 90 days after the report was released.