Well Pharmacy: ‘Patients need their medication on time’

Brian James, fleet and home delivery manager at Well Pharmacy, is very aware of the important role the company’s 481 vans play, Fleet News reports.

“If someone needs medication you cannot say ‘oh sorry the van is off the road, you’ll have to wait until tomorrow’,” he says. “Failure is not an option. You’ve got to make sure patients get the medication they need on time.”

Well Pharmacy’s 700-plus van drivers deliver prescriptions to communities, hospitals and prisons throughout the UK. The company also operates 119 company cars for various field roles, such as regional development managers, and has 86 cash-takers.

James’s goal is to make the fleet as efficient as possible and telematics, which has just been rolled out to the van fleet with anticipated savings of £990,000, will play a key part in that.

Government funding cuts threaten community pharmacies in St Albans

Graham Phillips, owner of Manor Pharmacy Group, said it was a ‘huge worry’ that the government was set on delivering a financial blow to community pharmacies, threatening to reduce funding in 2016/17 by £170 million, The Herts Advertiser.

The second-generation pharmacist runs seven pharmacies in Herts, including in Harpenden and Wheathampstead, after following in his father’s footsteps.

His concern has been echoed by the National Pharmacy Association (NPA), which supports independent community pharmacies like Graham’s, and is based in St Peter’s Street, St Albans.

The NPA has been asking pharmacy teams to gather evidence to show politicians and officials that local pharmacies are much more than a distribution point for medicines. A petition to stop such cuts has already gathered tens of thousands of signatures.

Residents and councillors oppose new pharmacy in Yeovil

A proposal to turn a property on West Coker road into a pharmacy has received significant public and council opposition at a recent meeting, the Western Gazette reports.

Many residents attended the meeting of Yeovil Town Council's planning committee last Monday (April 11) to passionately air their views on the proposal. Not one supported it.

Many present at the meeting claimed that the development of the site would endanger schoolchildren who use the nearby bus stop which stands directly opposite the proposed access to the pharmacy.

Councillor Terry Ledlie said he was concerned about children's safety.
End of an era for Carmarthen's King Morgan chemist after more than a century
A Camarthen pharmacy is relocating from its iconic building after almost 120 years, the Camarthen Journal reports.
Next month will be the end of a era for the King Morgan Pharmacy and its name.
It has stood at 25 King Street since 1897, but will close its famous black door for the last time when owners Nigel Williams Chemists Ltd move the service to the Furnace House doctor surgery at St Peter's car park on Tuesday, May 3.However, the chemist — known for its traditional decor, medicine jars and vials along the walls — will no longer carry the King Morgan name.

Instead, it will take on the parent company name and be called Nigel Williams Pharmacy Ltd.

Dementia threat 'may be less severe' than predicted

The predicted explosion of dementia cases may be less severe than previously thought, a study in Nature Communications suggests, the BBC reports.

Researchers looked at three areas of England, 20 years apart, and found new rates of dementia were lower than past trends would suggest.

They say improvements in men's health is the most likely explanation.

But charities warn against complacency, with more than 200,000 dementia cases diagnosed each year in the UK.