A GOVERNMENT decision to abandon proposals to prevent GPs from dispensing medicines if they are within a mile of a pharmacy was this week welcomed by surgeries in West Devon and the area's MP.
The 'U-turn' came only a day after Geoffrey Cox MP led a group of Okehampton and Tavistock patients and dispensary staff to present petitions signed by 5,000 concerned local people to 10 Downing St last week.
Darren Newland, the practice manager of the Abbey Surgery in Tavistock, joined Mr Cox at Downing Street to hand in the petition.
Mr Newland said he was delighted with the volte-face by the Government.
He told the Times: 'It's fantastic news for our patients, particularly our elderly ones, because it means they do not have to come here only then have to go to the trouble of having to collect their prescriptions from town.
'Many people wrote letters of complaint.
'I am sure that with all the petitions the Government received from practices from all over the country it has had an effect on their decision — it's a shame that everybody had to go through this in the first place.'
Mr Cox said he had received hundreds of letters from worried constituents faced with having to travel large distances to pick up their prescriptions, or losing the door to door service for the housebound run by the GPs' surgeries.
He has raised the issue in the House of Commons on the damaging effect of such a move on Torridge and West Devon's communities.
He also made his own submission to the Department for Health's consultation, warning of the 'cruel blow' that the proposals would have dealt local people were they to be adopted.
The presentation of petitions from the Okehampton Medical Centre and the Abbey Surgery in Tavistock was intended to convey to the Prime Minister Gordon Brown the strong feelings against the proposals by people most affected by the changes.
Mr Cox, who arranged for the group presenting the petitions to gain access to Downing Street with him, said: 'I am delighted that the Government has finally seen sense, and has abandoned these ill-considered and disastrous plans.
'It is a great pity however that these proposals were even considered in the first place.
'The Government has provoked a great wave of fear and worry amongst elderly and vulnerable patients across the countryside for no reason.
'While doubtless well-intentioned, it would have drastically reduced patient choice and removed another vital service for rural people, for whom the GP's dispensary is often a lifeline.'
Alison Shelton, practice and dispensary manager of Okehampton Medical Centre, added: 'I am delighted that the Government's reconsideration of these proposals will now safeguard the access to medications and advice that my rural patients presently experience and have appreciated for more than 10 years.'