Last updated at 12:10, Friday, 05 October 2012

A community pharmacy has opened at Cockermouth Community Hospital.

Castlegate Pharmacy opened on Monday as part of the redevelopment of the town’s new £11 million hospital, which will combine GP and community hospital services.

In March 2011, primary care trust NHS Cumbria invited tenders from local pharmacies to open on the new site.

Castlegate Pharmacy was successful and has opened in the existing hospital until the new infirmary is built.

The pharmacy will be open seven days a week, from 7am to 10pm Mondays to Saturdays and 10am to 8pm on Sundays and will offer over-the-counter medicine, prescriptions, a stop smoking service, emergency contraception and gluten-free food.

When the plans for a new pharmacy were announced in March last year there were fears that town centre services would suffer.

But NHS Cumbria said that the pharmacy would improve access for patients outside normal opening hours and be used predominantly by people already visiting the Cockermouth hospital for its existing services.

First published at 11:51, Friday, 05 October 2012
Published by http://www.timesandstar.co.uk