A new report has highlighted Westbury’s lack of adequate pharmacy provision, a situation councillors have called ‘ridiculous.’
The draft Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA), produced by Wiltshire Council’s Health and Wellbeing Board, shows Westbury is the only town in Wiltshire without a pharmacy open on Saturdays and with no pharmacies opening before 9am on weekdays.
At a recent meeting of Westbury Town Council’s policy and resources committee, councillors raised concerns about the impact on working residents. Councillor Gordon King said, “A lot of people in Westbury work and many of them travel out of town to their jobs. By the time they come home, they can’t get to the pharmacy as they are closed. This is a big issue.”
1930s hours
Councillor Mike Sutton added, “It is ridiculous that in the 21st century, we are seeing para-1930s social hours. Back then, people had time to pop out from work and go to the pharmacy. Things have changed.”
The PNA, which closed for consultation on 15th August, is intended to identify gaps in pharmacy services and signal to providers where improvements could be made. According to the draft, 59% of Westbury respondents said they were unable to access a pharmacy when needed, the highest proportion in the county.
Highest response
Cllr Clare Cape, Wiltshire Council Cabinet Member for Public Health and Co-ordination with the NHS, said the draft PNA aims to guide new pharmacy provision.
She said, “Westbury had the highest proportion of people responding of any community area saying that they were not able to access a pharmacy as and when they needed to (59%); and this correlates with the fact that the community area is the only one without any pharmacy open on Saturday.
“This represents a barrier to sufficient choice in that locality on Saturdays, particularly for those households that do not have access to a car, and as such providing pharmacy provision on Saturdays in Westbury would represent an improvement in access.
“The aim of the PNA is to signal to the market any potential gaps, to support the NHS in their decision-making responsibilities on permitting new pharmacies to open and to support those within the NHS and public health with their work on commissioning relevant local services.
Improving access
“Identifying in the PNA the potential to improve access to pharmacy services in Westbury is intended to stimulate applications from the providers to address this gap and provide clear grounds to the NHS for approving any such applications with the associated funding.”
The draft PNA was out for consultation until 15th August and will now be amended in light of feedback before being considered for adoption by the Wiltshire Health and Wellbeing Board on 25th September.
Pictured: Wiltshire councillor Gordon King, who has spoken out against Westbury’s limited pharmacy hours.
