Residents in a suburb of Richmond upon Thames will finally have access to a new pharmacy after the closure of two Boots branches and delays in the application process left them without one for a year.

Healthwatch Richmond, who spent 12 months campaigning for the new pharmacy, said on Tuesday that an application had been approved after residents were made to wait without a pharmacy after a Boots branch in Tangley Park closed in October 2023 and one in Priority Road shut its doors the following month.

Healthwatch Richmond claimed that having been informed by Boots in August 2023 that the two branches were about to close, NHS England failed to pass the information on to the local NHS body. When contacted by Independent Community Pharmacist, NHSE did not say if that claim was accurate or not.

As a result, Healthwatch insisted, an updated pharmaceutical needs assessment (PNA) was published “which did not account for those upcoming closures and incorrectly concluded no new pharmacies were needed in Hampton.” 

It said a new pharmacy application was submitted to NHSE on November 16, 2023 which was “correct for the PNA in place at the time.”

However, Healthwatch claimed the applicant was unaware that Richmond health and wellbeing board (HWB) had published a supplementary statement outlining the need for a new pharmacy in December 2023 and “could not amend their application accordingly.”

Healthwatch said it “formally published” its pharmacy review containing feedback from over 700 residents which clearly highlighted “a lack of pharmacy provision in Hampton.”

Two months later, Healthwatch said, the HWB “was advised of the new pharmacy application” and “positively supported applications to open pharmacies in the area.”

However, it said the market entry team rejected the application because of a “technicality” concerning the December 2023 supplementary statement. An appeal was lodged in July but rejected in October. A second application which was lodged in June was accepted on October 18.

Based on a NHS Resolutions document seen by ICP, the owner of the new pharmacy is believed to be VR Pharma Limited.

In July this year, the Liberal Democrat MP Munira Wilson, who campaigned for a solution to the issue, described the situation in parliament as “perverse" and insisted it was "utterly unreasonable that timely applications to open pharmacies in response to multiple closures should be inherently prevented in this way."

"The delays in sharing information with the local health and wellbeing board and the delays in decision making are unforgivable," she said.

Healthwatch Richmond chief officer Mike Derry said it would “still be some time before the new pharmacy is ready to open” but insisted it was “a huge win for the people of Hampton.”

“Our work does not stop here however,” he said. “The system for deciding pharmacy applications is unnecessarily bureaucratic and led to perverse decisions and ultimately avoidable and extensive delays for our residents.

“Our next job is to ensure that lessons are learnt from this so that other areas do not face the same delays.”