Boots and Lloyds try to stop small Oxford pharmacy opening

BOOTS and two other national retailers have tried to stop a tiny independent pharmacy from opening in Blackbird Leys.

Lloyds Pharmacy and Rowlands have also tried to scupper Taofik Shodunke's bid to reopen the former Lloyds chemist in Blackbird Leys Road which served the area for 25 years until January.

The businessman, who already runs the three branches of The Leys Pharmacy around Oxford, used to run the chemist himself when it was a Lloyds and says the business is viable.

He even wants to re-employ the original staff who lost their jobs and says residents on the estate are clamouring for it to be reopened.

Despite that, the three pharmacy giants – which all runs shops nearby – have all made official objections to Mr Shodunke's application for an NHS contract.

They claimed that the area has enough chemists already.

Mr Shodunke said: "It has always been well-used and for them to say it is not needed is a fallacy, it doesn’t make any sense.

"This is about the health of the area – we have a lot of people with a high level of need and require easy access to these services. It is very important to the people who live here and there is a huge demand for it."

Mr Shodunke said his current Greater Leys pharmacy at SPAR in Dunnock Way had seen the impact of the closure and has described the state of local services as ‘in crisis.’

He said: "We are at the point where we are constantly busy.

"I am even prepared to reopen the pharmacy without being able to work for the NHS, even if that is not profitable for me, because I know how much this area needs it."

Lloyds closed the branch after 25 years at the end of January as part of a raft of closures nationwide and it has been shuttered up ever since.

The Leys Pharmacy has now applied to register the premises on the ‘pharmaceutical list’, allowing for NHS prescriptions – 90 per cent of most pharmacies' income – to be dispensed.

In the submission Mr Shodunke said his other local branches had been overwhelmed since the Lloyds branch closed.

In letters of response to the application, the major pharmaceutical chains lobbied against the pharmacy reopening, claiming there was 'no need' for it.

Boots told NHS England that its own store at the Oxford Retail Park, half a mile away, had coped well since the Lloyds closure, despite seeing an upturn in the number of items dispensed.

The firm’s assistant NHS contract manager Claire Brittain went on to claim the area had sufficient access to services with five pharmacies within a mile.

She added: "The applicant has not provided any evidence to substantiate their claim that the two pharmacies in Greater Leys are overwhelmed with workload.

"In conclusion, we submit that the application should be refused as it will not confer significant benefits on persons in the area."

Lloyds maintained its Greater Leys pharmacy, a third of a mile away, when the other site closed.

In its representation, its NHS Contracts Manager Matthew Cox wrote: "There is an extensive range of opening hours available to the population and a choice of providers in the surrounding area."

When asked for comment, spokeswoman Julie Tomlinson said the decision to close was based on existing provision and with a view to 'mitigating' the impact on patients as much as possible.

Stephen Thomas, NHS Contract and Policy Manager for Rowlands pharmacy, which has a branch in Cowley, added to the objections.

He wrote: "Given that Lloyds have closed a well-used pharmacy we can only assume that there was no need for that pharmacy in that location.

"If this is true then a need will not exist now and therefore no gap will have been created.

"As a consequence of the above we do not feel that the application meets the regulatory test and must be refused."

Linda Smith, Blackbird Leys member for Oxford City Council which owns the pharmacy site, said her constituents were backing The Leys Pharmacy bid.

She said: "Many residents came to me with their concerns when it was announced that the Lloyds Pharmacy previously in this building was to shut.

"They were concerned about having to go further for their prescriptions and purchases and also that other pharmacies in the area were already busy and often had queues and long delays.

"Local residents have told me how much they appreciate and rely on being able to access pharmacy services at this site."

Oxfordshire county councillor for Blackbird Leys Deborah Mcilveen added: "It's vital that we have a pharmacy at the top shops for people living on that side of the estate."

She also said it was 'vital' that the NHS supported local business and not just 'big multi-nationals' such as Boots.

The final decision on the application will be made by the NHS' Health and Wellbeing board.