NEW rules making it easier for pharmacies to open and increasing opportunities for patients to acquire prescriptions over the internet have been announced by the Government.

The Department of Health unveiled its plans to relax regulations to make it easier and faster for new chemists to start work, while increasing access to a wider range of services for patients locally.

There will be greater opportunities for online or mail-order based pharmacies to apply for licences to dispense NHS prescriptions, providing they offer a fully-professional service.

The new rules follow a public consultation with advice from patients and pharmacists.

Tight restrictions on licences to open pharmacies will be lifted for those committed to opening for more than 100 hours a week, so long as they stick to this commitment.

In particular, this will help supermarkets wanting to run pharmacies in their 24-hour stores.

And rules will be relaxed for pharmacies in shopping centres over 15,000 square metres, as long as they are away from town centres.

Swindon pharmacist Chris McKendrick of Commercial Road said none of the measures would benefit small community pharmacies.

"All the measures the Department of Health has announced will undermine small pharmacies in some way," he said. "Internet and mail order dispensaries will buy in huge volumes of medicines and cream off the easy, regular prescriptions that are our bread and butter.

"They will use carriers and if a mistake is made how, will the customer get the drugs back and get the right ones? If a mistake is made locally we can sort it out.

"The local pharmacies also make home deliveries so there is no benefit to the customer on getting NHS prescriptions dispensed over the net.

"Local pharmacies may fold because of the loss of prescription work."

At present, pharmacy licences are handed out by Primary Care Trusts on the basis of desirability and necessity.

But new licences are rarely granted as independent chemists invariably object.

Now all applications that fall into one of the four categories and offer a full range of services will automatically have their applications to provide NHS pharmacy services accepted.

Heather Mitchell, director of corporate performance at Swindon Primary Care Trust, said: "It is the job of the PCT to make sure each area of Swindon has access to a pharmacy as locally as possible," she said.

"Given the significant housing development currently underway, this announcement will help us in achieving this.

"The PCT is already working on improving access to pharmacies and is mapping current provision to identify where further services are needed."

Catherine Turnbull