Dugher demands 'once and for all' end to pharmacy cuts

Mr Dugher has been campaigning against the proposals to reduce the budget by £170m which critics have claimed would have put the future of many pharmacies at risk.

He said: “It is welcome news that Ministers are now finally dumping their package of £170 million of cuts to community pharmacies.

“All of us who have campaigned hard have repeatedly warned that these cuts are bad news for our local communities and would make even worse the Government’s GP access crisis and the hospital waiting times crisis happening in our NHS. This is a chance for the Government to once and for all put a stop to all the cuts to community pharmacies that will end up costing the NHS more.”

Community Health Minister David Mowat signalled a partial climbdown earlier this month when he signalled the cut would not go ahead as planned in October.

The Government has now confirmed it is re-opening discussions with the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee on the issue.