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Jagdish Vaghela with wife Hansila, and councillors Pat Callaghan, Roger Robinson and Paul Braithwaite, along with staff and supporters who have backed the couple |
Victory for chemist’s as chain pulls out of move
Pharmacy giant withdraws its plan for store near independent shop
AN independent chemist’s shop is celebrating after a pharmacy chain withdrew plans for a rival store just a few doors away.
Jagdish Vaghela, of Biotech Pharmacy in Camden Road, thought his business was ruined after the Camden Primary Care Trust gave the national pharmacy chain ABC rights to open a shop less than 10 buildings away from him.
Under controversial new legislation – brought in by health secretary Patricia Hewitt, a near neighbour to Biotech – local health trusts are obliged to approve applications from pharmacies which propose to trade 100 hours a week.
Under the special exemption rules the proximity of other chemists is disregarded.
Outraged neighbours – including Ms Hewitt’s husband high court judge William Birtles – protested about the opening of ABC after news that it planned to offer a needle exchange to drug addicts.
Protesters claimed it would attract drug addicts to an area already plagued by anti-social behaviour.
Customers of the beleaguered Biotech rallied around the pharmacy and praised Mr Vaghela’s dedication and commitment to ‘go the extra mile’ for customers.
Mr Vaghela launched his own fight-back against ABC, and swore to rebuff any attempts to buy his business.
“If (ABC) bought my licence they wouldn’t have to open 100 hours a week, which would have been difficult,” said Mr Vaghela. Although ABCs chief executive Nick Bilby apparently offered him “a substantial amount”, this week Mr Vaghela insisted it was never about the money. “If he’d offered me a million I’d say no,” said Mr Vaghela.
“I feel great, and my customers are so relieved, they’re so happy. They asked me, ‘if (Mr Bilby) offered you a handsome sum, would you give in?’ I said ‘no way’.”
Ms Hewitt faced potential embarrassment over the pharmacy after Mr Birtles wrote a strongly worded letter of objection to Camden’s health trust about the new pharmacy, and called for the 100-hour legislation to be re-examined.
In an interview with the New Journal earlier this year, Mr Bilby accused objectors of lacking compassion for drug addicts, and said they needed the services of his pharmacy.
Speaking this week, he denied offering Mr Vaghela money to buy him out.
He said the reason for his pull-out was because a health centre he was relying on for business was further away than he first thought.
“We decided the health centre was set back,” he said. “It didn’t face Camden Road. I didn’t think the shop would do as well.”
Honour for blood pressure clinic
BARTS and The London has won international recognition for its high blood pressure clinic.
The clinic has been named as a Hypertension Excellence Centre following an announcement by the European Society of Hypertension.
A panel of international experts deemed that the service for patients with high blood pressure – which affects 30 per cent of the adult population – was among the best in Europe. The centre in EC1 is one of just six in the UK to be awarded.
It is staffed by specialist consultants, nurses and pharmacists. Dr Mel Lobo, consultant physician at Barts, said: “High blood pressure can have devastating consequences, which is why detection and treatment to established targets is so important. Many hypertension cases can be treated at primary care level, but a significant proportion of patients need specialist input, which is why our dedicated centre is so important.”
A variety of treatments is used, from identifying drug combinations to surgery in rarer cases.
Patients’ dim view of hospital lighting
PATIENTS claim corridors at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead are being left in semi-darkness, making it seem like a disused factory,
Professor Michael King, of the department of mental health sciences, told a meeting of Camden and Islington Mental Health Trust last week that patients were wandering around in dimly-lit corridors.
He said: “The Royal Free has reduced the lighting in the corridors by about 50 per cent. Patients were comparing it to a disused factory.”
A hospital spokeswoman said: “Lighting in corridors used by administration staff is turned off outside office hours. The number of lights turned on in wards and also corridors used by clinical and nursing staff is halved overnight to allow patients to rest.”
She added: “Throughout the hospital almost all the lighting is provided by standard high-frequency fluorescent fittings. It is not technically possible to turn down the lighting levels from these standard fittings.
“Staff are asked to turn off lights in rooms not in use as part of the trust’s drive to be more energy efficient.” |
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