Jersey politician calls for Government action to protect out of hours pharmacy services

The chair of Jersey's Health and Social Security Scrutiny Panel is calling on the Health Minister to step in and protect the island's out of hours pharmacy services. Deputy Louise Doublet wrote a letter to Deputy Tom Binet expressing her concern after Roseville Pharmacy said it would be removing its emergency out of hours service from Monday (30 September). The private St Helier pharmacy on Roseville Street, which serves people from across the island, announced its new opening hours would be 8am-6pm from Monday to Friday and 10am-4pm on weekends and bank holidays. The pharmacy said it was reducing its opening hours due to financial and staff constraints. Speaking to ITV News, Deputy Doublet said: "Roseville Pharmacy has provided an essential service for many years and I'd like to know where that service is going to come from if Roseville are not able to provide it."

She added: "It's important for our community, especially for those with chronic conditions, families with young children, people who work shift patterns to be able to access the medication they need at a convenient time.""It's a problem for all islanders, not just those who live in town because I think if you need medication then you're likely to be travelling to the out of hours GP perhaps, or it's an urgent situation and you would travel into town."But ideally, I would like to see extended opening hours from pharmacies at different points around the island."Deputy Doublet also told ITV News that if Roseville Pharmacy cannot offer the 'crucial' out of hours service is currently does, then the Government should look at the possibility of extending opening hours at Jersey General Hospital's pharmacy. The Hospital pharmacy is open 10am-12pm on weekdays but is closed on weekends and bank holidays.

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