Petition over Glastonbury Pharmacy closure
There is growing concern in Glastonbury over the closure of the Boots pharmacy on the High Street. The store has announced that it will close on 13 October. That will leave the town with just one pharmacy, Knights on Feversham Lane.
The pharmacy is already experiencing a heavy workload and the closure will only add to that. The Leveller ran a lead story in our June issue highlighting the closure of pharmacies and the impact it had on communities. Unfortunately this seems to be part of a national trend. And just at the point when government is suggesting pharmacies can be used to take pressure off GPs.
Campaigner Emma King has started a petition to save the pharmacy. She says that Somerset NHS recognise the importance of local pharmacies. In fact there is some evidence for this. In an article on the NHS Somerset website, published on 23rd September 2022, Dr Bernie Marsden, NHS Somerset’s Chief Medical Officer says that residents should be: “using our NHS Somerset GP Community Pharmacy Consultation Service which offers patients a same-day appointment for over 40 minor conditions at a community pharmacist of their choice, when they are offered an appointment for this service by their surgery.”
However Emma King says that when you talk to Somerset NHS it is a different matter. They have an action plan: “which presumes that people will be able to access online services. This is simply unacceptable for people in a rural area, where internet access is often poor.”
She adds: “Glastonbury has a large number intravenous drug users, and subsequently a lot of users who require methadone or other substitute opioids. The closure of the Boots pharmacy is going to be a risk to patients and the community as a whole.”
To date the petition against closure has attracted 400 signatures.
If you want to sign the petition and find out more, you can do so here: https://www.change.org/p/glastonbury-high-street-needs-a-pharmacy?recruiter=8205420&recruited_by_id=6819d300-fba8-012f-bfda-4040af38c10c&utm_source=share_petition&utm_campaign=share_petition&utm_term=petition_dashboard&utm_medium=copylink&pt=AVBldGl0aW9uAGigHQIAAAAAZMGaJGz8ZgMyYzA0YTA3OA%3D%3D&utm_content=cl_sharecopy_36885317_en-US%3A4