Portsmouth council boss calls on NHS to block merger of two city pharmacies

Councillor Gerald Vernon-Jackson has warned the closure of Rowlands’ Elm Grove branch in favour of its consolidated Osborne Road pharmacy would make access more difficult for the elderly and disabled.

‘I’m really worried,’ he said. ‘At a time where we’re increasingly reliant on pharmacies to take pressure off NHS services we have the potential for another to be closed.’

The pharmacy chain submitted its ‘pharmacy consolidation application’ last month, which would mean none of its rivals could take over the running of the Elm Grove shop after the merger.

Applications are allowed under a 2016 rule change that prevents a new pharmacy stepping in straight away if two pharmacies combine ‘where this does not create a gap in provision’. NHS England said it would refuse any application that does.

A decision is due within the coming months and the application will also go before members of the health and wellbeing board for discussion in the next few weeks.

In his letter, Cllr Vernon-Jackson said he had also shared his concerns with the director of public health who was ‘coordinating representations’ and that his opposition was as both the leader of the council and a ward councillor.

He said the 1km distance between the two pharmacies was ‘unacceptable’ to expect elderly or less mobile people to travel particularly when there is ‘so much pressure’ on GP services.

He said there were seven large retirement developments, totalling more than 400 properties, ‘within a short distance’ of the Elm Grove branch, alongside several care homes and sheltered accommodation facilities and estimated more than 2,000 people would be affected.

‘As a result of the factors above, I do not believe this consolidation should be supported,’ it says. ‘If it does go ahead, I believe this creates a gap that another provider should be able to fill if they wish to do so.’

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, he said the closure of other pharmacies in the city in recent years would exacerbate difficulties in accessing a pharmacy and said the NHS needed to resist further attempts to reduce provision.

Both Rowlands Pharmacy and NHS England were contacted for comment.