Twist in Upper Poppleton chemist wrangle (From York Press)

Twist in Upper Poppleton chemist wrangle

9:01am Wednesday 8th September 2010 in

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A VILLAGE pharmacist’s battle to stay in business has taken an extraordinary twist after health chiefs erased her name from the pharmaceutical list – and then decided she should stay on it after all.

Pamela Brompton, who has run the chemist’s shop in Upper Poppleton for 23 years, has been embroiled in a lengthy wrangle with the former North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust (PCT), now known as NHS North Yorkshire and York.

A panel hearing decided last month she should be removed from the list, which would prevent her providing any NHS pharmaceutical service.

Ms Brompton said she lodged an appeal against the panel decision on Monday, August 30, within the necessary 28 days, but on Monday this week other York pharmacists informed her they had been told by the trust she had ceased trading.

She said she then received a letter from legal services manager Steve Mason, saying a tribunal had told him on Friday that no notice of appeal had been received by it.

“It is therefore my duty to inform you that your name has today been erased from the Pharmaceutical List with immediate effect,” he said.

He said the trust would be required by law to notify a range of organisations of its decision, including the Health Secretary, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, the National Patient Safety Agency and even the Scottish Executive, National Assembly for Wales and Northern Ireland Executive.

But a solicitor for Ms Brompton then wrote to the trust, saying the appeal had been lodged on August 30 and the trust’s action was therefore unlawful, and demanded the immediate rescinding of the decision.

Mr Mason replied saying he could not determine whether the appeal was lodged within the statutory period, but the trust accepted Ms Brompton should remain on the pharmaceutical list pending resolution of that question.

A NHS North Yorkshire and York spokesman said the tribunal had confirmed on Friday that no appeal had been received prior to the deadline. “We have since been notified that an appeal has been received, but it has yet to be forwarded to NHS North Yorkshire and York.”

He said that in order to ensure patients who typically used the pharmacy would still be able to obtain prescription items, in the event that no appeal was received, neighbouring pharmacies were informed of the situation so they would be prepared for any increase in demand.