I challenged Ministers in the House of Commons over plans to cut funding for community pharmacies by £113 million in 2016/17 and a further £95 million in 2017/18.

I described community pharmacies as an essential frontline for the NHS and challenged Health Minister David Mowat MP on “what assessment had been made of the additional pressures and additional costs that will be put on other parts of the NHS?”

I visited Lo’s Pharmacy in Broomhall recently and I was struck by the relationships that community pharmacists develop with those dependent on NHS services. In the advice and support they provide to elderly patients and those suffering from long-term illness they take the pressure off local GPs and Hospital services. I’m concerned that these cuts add to the pressure and costs in other parts of the NHS.