The shop floor pharmacy, at ASDA's Stockport store is situated in the store's normal healthcare aisle in around half the space normally taken up by a traditional pharmacy. But with a full range of over-the-counter and pharmacy-only medicines the outlet is staffed by a fully qualified pharmacist and offers a normal NHS prescription service and comes complete with a consultation room for private patient discussions.

The 21st century shop floor pharmacy will also be installed in Cardiff (Pentwyn), Gateshead and Thornaby before September.

The DTI has already signalled its intention to unveil a balanced package of measures to "promote change to open up the market and improve quality and access without diminishing the crucial role that pharmacies play".

The government's announcement - due today - will come after consultation on an Office of Fair Trading report in January 2003 which backed ASDA's campaign to reform the way pharmacy licences are approved to stop anti-competitive practices that distort the £18.7bn market to keep prices too high.

Anyone who's struggled to find a pharmacy that's open in an evening or at a weekend or paid through the nose for their medicines knows there needs to be change. That's why the significance of today's news that ASDA is piloting a new shop floor pharmacy, in anticipation of a relaxation of opening rules, will be welcomed by ordinary shoppers across the UK.

Last year ASDA provided evidence to the OFT that Pharmacy Contract Limitation (PCL) was a 'closed shop' that failed to work in the best interests of patients. It argued that millions of pounds a year could be cut from UK shopping bills for medicines and said patients would receive a better service with up to 10 per cent more pharmacies in a greater variety of locations if the current regulations were abolished.

ASDA's key concerns about the current system include:

• Unfair Prices. Most pharmacy operators, operating outside a normal competitive market, have failed to pass on lower prices in the wake of the abolition of healthcare price-fixing (RPM), denying customers savings of £270m a year;
• Wasted Resources. With the market all but closed to new entrants, existing pharmacy operators have seen the value of the licenses grow to inflated levels. In 2001, £150m that could have been spent on lower prices was wasted on the purchase of these highly valuable pharmacy contracts from existing operators - some even change hands for over £1m;
• Pharmacy Deserts. The number of UK pharmacies has remained static at around 12,000 for the last 10 years - only one per 5,000 people - a poorer level of provision than at least six other EU countries including Italy, France, Germany and Spain. PCL has therefore been responsible for stunting the growth of pharmacies, leaving them incapable of meeting their growing primary healthcare responsibilities;
• Customer Demand. Out of 15 applications by ASDA for new pharmacy contracts over the past two years, only two have been approved. This flies in the face of unequivocal feedback from customers telling ASDA that they want a pharmacy more than any other additional service offered in-store.

"Our new shop floor pharmacy signals our intention to work hard to give our shoppers the best access to the healthcare we can provide," said ASDA's superintendent pharmacist John Evans. "We look forward to hearing the details of the DTI's package of measures to open up the market to improve pharmacy services and end the current 'closed shop'".

Editors' Notes

1. A Pharmacy Fact Sheet, explaining Pharmacy Contract Limitation (PCL) and outlining the arguments presented to the OFT is available from the ASDA Press Office. 2. Pictures of a pharmacist at work in a supermarket are available from Guzelian News & Pictures on 01274 532300