Agenda item

The Council welcomes contributions from members of the public.

Statements

If you would like to make a statement at this meeting on any item on this agenda, please register to do so at least 10 minutes prior to the meeting. Up to 3 speakers are permitted to speak for up to 3 minutes each on any agenda item. Please contact the officer named on the front of the agenda for any further clarification.

Questions

To receive any questions from members of the public or members of the Council received in accordance with the constitution.

Those wishing to ask questions are required to give notice of any such questions in writing to the officer named on the front of this agenda no later than 5pm on Thursday 16 May 2024 in order to be guaranteed of a written response. In order to receive a verbal response questions must be submitted no later than 5pm on Monday 20 May 2024. Please contact the officer named on the front of this agenda for further advice. Questions may be asked without notice if the Chairman decides that the matter is urgent.

Details of any questions received will be circulated to Committee members prior to the meeting and made available at the meeting and on the Council’s website.

A question was received by Mr Chris Caswill in time for a written response, which was published as an agenda supplement.

Mr David Reeves asked the Board the following question:

“The 2022-25 Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment, signed off by this Board, identified that the three pharmacies then operating in Warminster were adequate, even though the ratio of pharmacies to population was already far lower than in other parts of Wiltshire.

Since the closure of the Boots at the Avenue branch on its consolidation into Boots Market Place, the inadequacy of pharmaceutical provision in Warminster has been of major public concern with interventions from the local MP, and the Town Council as well as widespread public dismay expressed online and in the press.

The closure or consolidation of a pharmacy requires a HWB Board to either issue a supplementary statement or to state that there is no requirement to do so. Indeed, the minutes of your own Board records that this process was followed when Lloyd’s pharmacy was closed in Sainsbury Chippenham, a town served by six pharmacies. Sadly, I see no evidence of a similar review carried out for Warminster.

While the Chairman’s statement from March 2024 records that an application for a third application was “welcomed and supported” by the HWB Board, a proper evaluation should have been made at the point of the consolidation.

Noting that supplementary statements only deal with factual changes (number of people served; demographics; and risks to the health and wellbeing of residents and visitors). Whatever the decision made by the Wiltshire HWB at the point of Boots at the Avenue closure, we are now seven months on and pharmacy services in town are under severe strain – and are certainly risking the health of residents and visitors. And, of course, the Western housing expansion is already adding to the existing population placing yet more strain on the infrastructure.

So, I am asking you please to review this situation as a matter of urgency and to issue a supplementary statement that will properly support and allow market entry applications (including the one currently with the Integrated Care Board to be decided in June).”

Mr Reeves also stated that what he was most interested in was pharmaceutical provision and that he was very passionate about residents’ concerns.

In response it was noted that:

• The September Health and Wellbeing Board had considered the closure and shared the initial analysis from the Collaborative Commissioning Hub that the remaining pharmacies will be able to manage demand.
• The November Board meeting had received notice that the closure was confirmed (and that this was not a consolidation). The ICB also shared its plans on addressing workforce gaps (25% vacancy rate) and since then we have also seen the rollout of Pharmacy First
• It is important to note that the PNA does not stipulate a requirement for three pharmacies in the Warminster area, nor their hours or location, and the closure of a pharmacy does not automatically mean that provision is inadequate.
• Supplementary statements are statements of fact – according to government guidance ‘They are not a vehicle for updating what the pharmaceutical needs assessment says about the need for pharmaceutical services. They do not have to be issued in all circumstances – and in some cases they should not be published at all.
• However, a supplementary statement will be issued recognising the changes that have taken place in Warminster (particularly in light of the refusal of the application for consolidation in the recent past)
• The March Board meeting confirmed a response to consultation on the application by Prime Scripts for a pharmacy in the west of town – welcoming this and the benefits it can bring. This is now with the ICB for consideration.
• The process of updating the PNA has now begun and a further update on this and the proposed approach will be provided at either the July or September Board meeting.