Private delivery of NHS services

[tobyaw]

My most frequent interactions with the NHS are collecting repeat prescriptions, for me and for the rest of the family. For the last few years I’ve used the pharmacy at our local Morrisons supermarket; it is friendly, efficient, has good parking, and most importantly, is open long hours. It cannot be overstated how important it is that pharmacy services are available in weekday evenings, and seven days a week.

The existing pharmacies in town — Boots, Lloyds — seem happy to collaborate rather than compete, and still close at 5.30pm. It took a new entrant to the market to add a better level of service.

This is private-sector delivery of NHS services, free at the point of delivery, and providing a better service that anything that has gone before it.

Comments

[purpletigron]

What has happened to the local pharmacy rota?

[tobyaw]

Dunno. Is that where pharmacies arrange for one of them in turn to be open for an hour on Sundays? I guess that’s blown away by Morrisons pharmacy opening for six hours every Sunday, and twelve hours every other day of the week.

Not sure whether to find that info online.

[purpletigron]

A quick Google says ...

http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Pharmacy/Pages/Medicinesoutofhours.aspx

"If your local pharmacy is closed, use the NHS pharmacy service search (http://www.nhs.uk/Service-Search/Pharmacy/LocationSearch/10) to find other nearby pharmacies and their opening hours. Some are open until midnight or even later, even on public holidays."

Long rota hours has always been the case as far back as I can remember ...

[tobyaw]

Despite the “nhs.uk” in the URL, those are England-only resources.

[purpletigron]

Ah, yes, I forgot that wrinkle ... another quick Google shows:

https://www.nhsinform.scot/national-service-directory

which links to this: https://www.nhsinform.scot/national-service-directory/pharmacies which lets you search by opening time & location.

[ggreig]

But it's only free at the point of delivery because the SNP Government funds free prescriptions.

There's a place for private-sector delivery of services, so long as control of the situation remains with the public sector. If too much power is put in the hands of the private sector, there will be profiteering.

[tobyaw]

Yep, I buy that argument. But the key issue for me is that private-sector involvement in the NHS isn’t in itself a bad thing; we ought to be considering how private sector strengths rather than weaknesses could interact with the NHS.

In particular, I’m reasonably convinced that a competitive marketplace in terms of service delivery would be greatly beneficial for efficiency and customer service (and leave little room for profiteering, which is usually a by-product of monopolies).