Doctors in Cockermouth faced public backlash this week after calling on patients to support the pharmacy at the town's new £11 million hospital.

The opening of Castlegate Pharmacy at the hospital caused controversy as it is owned by the doctors.

Last week, GPs from Derwent and Castlegate surgeries, which are in the process of merging, renewed their plea for people to support their pharmacy and dispensary.

Dr Mark Kinghan, of Derwent Surgery, said: "Using the pharmacy helps support your surgery and subsidise the costs of our new health centre."

His comments have been criticised by Times & Star readers.

Caroline Baker said: "It's bad enough going in as a patient and being dragged towards it with my prescription.

"The new hospital isn't dependent on the pharmacy succeeding so why do they insist on making out that it is."

The directors of JWW Allison & Sons chemist said the town's ability to maintain three pharmacies and a dispensary was debatable and should have been considered before the new service opened.

They added: "To now plead with the community to support this risky venture at the potentially ruinous expense of the towns existing pharmacies is rather unfair."

A spokeswoman for Community Health Partnerships, the government-owned organisation that manages rental of the hospital premises, confirmed that the rent paid for the pharmacy unit had no bearing on the rental costs for the health centre.

The pharmacy unit is currently on a long-term, legally-binding lease.

The spokeswoman added that the rental cost of any unused space would be picked up by NHS Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).

GP services are funded by NHS England, not the CCG.

In a statement, Dr Kinghan, Dr Helen McArdle and Dr Alison Pearson defended their plea.

They said: "The commercial rent paid subsidises the cost of this expensive building with its high running costs.

"We are not putting people under pressure to use the pharmacy. Patients are free to choose any pharmacy they want.

"We do need more people to use the pharmacy for it to survive."

They said the NHS was changing beyond recognition, with a greater focus on the role of pharmacists, and each service that was outsourced meant a loss of funding for GP surgeries.

They added: "The doctors with the original vision for the pharmacy - most of whom have now moved on - were looking at providing a service that would be truly integrated with the surgeries.

"Of course we want our business to be successful and hope to invest in its growth and expansion.

"In terms of recruitment of GPs for Cockermouth and retaining the ones we have this could be an important factor in the future.

"We are heavily subsidising the ongoing running costs of the business which is not sustainable in the long term.

"If the GP-run independent 100-hour pharmacy does not survive then it is probable that a much larger pharmacy chain will move into that space.

"The potential impact this would have on the practice in terms of income loss and GP retention would be appreciable."

When asked to explain exactly how the pharmacy financially benefits the health centre, Dr Kinghan was unavailable for comment.

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