A network of "super chemists" is set to treat a range of common ailments under plans included in the Government's latest health blueprint.
The centres will have consulting rooms where the pharmacist can deal with a range of ailments including coughs and colds, eye infections, stomach bugs and headaches.
Ministers claim that the new proposals will save the NHS £300 million each year and free GPs for an extra half hour each day. Critics claim that there is nothing new in the proposals, many of which are similar to plans announced in 2005.
The Conservatives said that figures had shown that just 101 of England's 10,000 plus pharmacies had taken up the opportunity to write prescriptions, brought in two years ago. Concerns have also been voiced about the negative effect the new "healthy living centres" could have on small rival businesses.
But Ben Bradshaw, the health minister who unveiled the move in a White Paper yesterday, insisted that the plans would make a better use of trained professionals.
He said: "As 99 per cent of the population can get to a pharmacy within 20 minutes, everyone will benefit."
The centres will have consulting rooms where the pharmacist can deal with a range of ailments including coughs and colds, eye infections, stomach bugs and headaches.
Ministers claim that the new proposals will save the NHS £300 million each year and free GPs for an extra half hour each day. Critics claim that there is nothing new in the proposals, many of which are similar to plans announced in 2005.
The Conservatives said that figures had shown that just 101 of England's 10,000 plus pharmacies had taken up the opportunity to write prescriptions, brought in two years ago. Concerns have also been voiced about the negative effect the new "healthy living centres" could have on small rival businesses.
But Ben Bradshaw, the health minister who unveiled the move in a White Paper yesterday, insisted that the plans would make a better use of trained professionals.
He said: "As 99 per cent of the population can get to a pharmacy within 20 minutes, everyone will benefit."
It is expected that the new super chemists will also provide a range of vaccinations, testing for sexually transmitted infections and take on some of the management of long-term illnesses such as asthma and diabetes.
