By Taylor Robertson

FAIFLEY residents are being urged to complete, for a second time, a survey of views on opening a pharmacy in the area after the initial consultation received too few responses.

NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde chiefs are in discussion with applicant BGR Healthcare, which wants to open the new community pharmacy at 258b Faifley Road.

Ron Badger, director of BGR Healthcare, said: “Opening a pharmacy will cost the health board nothing – it will only benefit residents.

“I don’t think there is a larger, more deprived, population that does not have direct access to pharmacy services.

“If we don’t get their views in then we won’t get the committee to listen.”

According to the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2016, Faifley, which has a population of 5,342, falls under the 20% most deprived areas of Scotland.

Mr Badger, a pharmacist whose wife’s family is from the Faifley area, said chemists nearby “don’t have the time to focus on the community in Faifley.”

He added: “This is not an opportunistic application.

“I have not applied for multiple contracts in the past, it is based on evidence and feedback from the community.”

The first application and a subsequent appeal were both rejected in 2017 as the prospective pharmacy was deemed “neither necessary nor desirable” by the Pharmacy Practices Committee of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

BGR Healthcare’s first consultation, which closed on January 11, 2017, received around 80 responses but Mr Badger will push for at least 250 this time.

Mr Badger said: “This application is necessary to enable residents to have adequate and equitable access to pharmaceutical services.

“It is also desirable to reduce health inequalities. There is an opportunity here to change lives for the better.”

A link to the survey can be found on the Faifley Pharmacy Consultation Facebook page.

The deadline for completion is 5pm on February 26, 2019.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Applications to open a community pharmacy are made according to arrangements set out in the NHS (Pharmaceutical Services) (Scotland) Regulations. Under this, decisions are a matter for NHS Boards, through their Pharmacy Practices Committee.”