Lisa Duncan wins appeal to open pharmacy in Saline

After an application was rejected last year – Dears, the company with the nearest dispensary in Oakley, was the main objector – an appeal was submitted and a second Pharmacy Practices Committee (PPC) hearing has now gone in the village's favour.

Lisa Duncan, who first approached Saline Community Council with the idea in 2019, plans to open the pharmacy in the underused community centre.

Chair of the community council, David Chisholm, said: "It was a real David vs Goliath battle but the little people have prevailed.

The pharmacy will be set up in Saline Community Centre. (Image: Newsquest)

"It was a nail-biting weekend, waiting for the decision, but it's been approved.

"That's the good news, the bad news is Dears Pharmacy, the principle objector, may have a chance to appeal which would delay us even further."

Anyone wishing to open a pharmacy in the Kingdom needs approval from NHS Fife – Townhill underwent a similar four-year fight before getting their pharmacy opened in 2021.

Ms Duncan submitted an application with the side benefit of the pharmacy providing a "catalyst" to establishing a health and wellbeing hub, opening a community cafe and encouraging more groups, services and organisations to use the premises.

A supporting statement from the community council said: "Central to our vision is the importance we attach to reducing the need for people to travel out of the area for everyday services.

"Car ownership is no longer at the levels it once was and many people are dependent on public transport, which is irregular, unreliable and, most significantly, expensive for those who do not have a bus pass.

"It is more than 30 years since there was a doctors’ surgery in Saline and people have to travel to Oakley to have a face to face meeting with a medical professional.

"The service offered by the Oakley pharmacy has improved significantly over the last few years but that does not overcome the obstacle of having to travel to it.

"People recognise that there are many services apart from dispensing prescriptions that an experienced pharmacist can provide and a very high proportion of those who responded to the NHS questionnaire supported the application.

"People are looking forward to having this expertise in the village."

However, Dears were against the application and opposed it.

A PPC hearing to determine the matter should have been held in 2020 but, due to Covid, it wasn't held until March 2022.

Mr Chisholm said Dears "misled" the panel about the relationship between Oakley and Saline and Steelend, claiming they are all in the same neighbourhood, and that locals without cars "had no difficulty getting to Oakley by bus!

He added: "Sadly the panel swallowed this nonsense and rejected the application.

"Both Lisa and ourselves appealed to the NHS Appeals Panel and the chair agreed there had been a miscarriage and ordered NHS Fife to hold another hearing with a fresh panel.

"The second hearing took place and this time the panel accepted our arguments that Saline and Steelend deserves to have its own pharmacy."

Fife Council have already granted planning permission, in May last year, to use two rooms of the community centre.

The community council pointed out that the population of Saline and Steelend was, at 2021, just over 2,100 but since then planning permission had been granted for 39 homes with the expectation that an application for 100-plus family homes will soon follow.

In his statement Mr Chisholm said: "The most important benefit is providing the opportunity for anyone feeling unwell, or with a sick family member, to walk to the pharmacy and get advice from someone they know and trust.

"The value of this is confirmed in Oakley Health Centre’s letter of support in which they acknowledge that it would reduce the amount of on-the-day demand that they currently have to deal with."

Dears did not respond to requests for a comment before we went to print.