DORSET is said to be generally well-served with pharmacies – although there are concerns about access for some in more remote rural areas.
A county-wide survey and consultation concludes that current provision is good and is likely to remain so for the foreseeable future.
It shows that there are currently 142 community pharmacies, 74 in the BCP area and 68 in the Dorset Council area, some offering advanced services which may include offering vaccines, hepatitis C testing, blood pressure checks and stop smoking treatments.
Most of the county is within 20 minutes’ drive of a pharmacy, although some of these may be on the other side of a county border.
The majority of those who responded to the survey, 52 per cent, drove to a pharmacy, with 40per cent walking and 3 per cent using public transport.
In the BCP area 78 per cent of households have access to a car or van, 85 per cent in the Dorset Council area.
The report says that in the rural area with a low population density in the centre of Dorset is the only place where residents would not be able to access a pharmacy within a 20-minute drive time. But the report adds that in this area GPs are also dispensing practices, which would give all of those living in the area access to medicines within a 20-minute drive time and, for the majority, 15 minutes.
Several people raised concerns about new housing developments putting pressure on existing services. These included Roeshot Hill, Christchurch; Shaftesbury and Gillingham; Weymouth and Portland; Poundbury, Dorchester and Purbeck.
In all but one of the cases the data showed there were adequate services – with Weymouth and Portland historically having more pharmacies per head of population than average, which continues to be the case, although the area does see higher number of items dispensed per patient than the South West or England average.
For Poundbury it was decided that although Dorchester has five pharmacies, three are very close together in the town, and it might be better to consider persuading one to relocate to the Duchy development to improve access in the future.
The full report, which details area by area coverage, can be found online at – Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA) – Public Health Dorset – Dorset Council
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