A Conservative MP who once described pharmacists as "counting smarties" has dismissed the petition against the funding cuts. 

Bracknell MP and GP Phillip Lee, who suggested in 2012 that pharmacists were dispensers being paid to "count smarties", told listeners of BBC Radio Berkshire’s breakfast show that the government’s proposals to cut funding in England by 6% is “going in the right direction”.

“There is no forcing people out of business, this isn’t what it’s about. It’s about the most cost-effective way of delivering the important services that [pharmacists] provide within the NHS,” Dr Lee said in the interview yesterday (April 11).

“I don’t think it’s the role of the government to subsidise businesses," he said.

The petition against the cuts, which had racked up more than 400,000 signatures by April 4, is based on an argument that is "very difficult to make", Dr Lee said.

‘Best interest of patients’

Dr Lee told the radio show he had “long had the opinion” that pharmacists working within GP surgeries is a “good idea”.

“The changes the government are putting forward towards hosting more pharmacies within GP surgeries will be in the best interests of the patients and I think they will lead to better care in general,” the MP said.

Dr Lee added that for elderly patients, having the pharmacy and the GP surgery in the same destination is preferable.

“I think the patients themselves will think it’s fantastic,” he said. 

What do you make of Dr Lee's comments 

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