Hampton Pharmacy Closures - Including a response from Boots
In late 2023, two pharmacies closed in Hampton - Tangley Park (21.10.2023) and Priory Road (11.11.2023). Patients of these practices were left to access Station Approach and Bear Road pharmacies located to the north and south of Hampton. As well as halving pharmacy capacity within Hampton, the Station Approach site was renovated shortly after the closures limiting access to pharmacy further from October to January 2023.
We responded by undertaking a review of patient and public experience and visiting the remaining sites.
Almost 700 people have provided usable responses to our online survey, which is equivalent to roughly 1 in 6 households in Hampton North.
Awful wait time and queues, very poor stock availability of basic prescription medicines. Sent to Bear Road Boots in Hanworth (required a car trip) as Station Approach had run out of stock of a basic antibiotic for a sick child.
Key findings
- 98% of those using Station Approach Pharmacy stated that waiting times are worse or significantly worse since the closures.
- 215 people reported long queues at the Station Approach pharmacy.
- 190 people spoke about having to wait outside in bad weather.
- 79% of users reported their waiting time has increased across all pharmacies since the closures.
- 61% stated travel time has increased by at least 15 minutes.
- 10% of respondents reported concerns about staff working conditions. There was empathy towards the Station Approach pharmacy staff, praising them for doing their best to meet the increased demand; however, these concerns also reflect the pressure strain that the pharmacy staff are currently facing.
- Respondents reported multiple issues with prescriptions, including delays, stock issues and mistakes. This was also echoed by staff at GP Surgeries who raised concerns about mistakes being made and patients coming into the surgery blaming them.
Read the full report
Local Impact
Boots have increased staff capacity and availability of medications at their existing sites.
Based on public experience, the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames has amended its Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment which allows the potential for new pharmacies to open up within Hampton.
An application has been submitted to open a new Pharmacy in Tangley Park. We have used the feedback that people provided us with to respond to this.
Boots have since responded to our report findings. To summarise:
- Boots have acknowledged the initial disruption caused by the closures, although stated that planning was undertaken to ensure the remaining pharmacies were equipped to handle the extra demand.
- We raised the concern of The Station Approach pharmacy undergoing refurbishment at the same time as the closure. Boots acknowledged the refit had taken longer than expected, although the aim was to expand the capacity of the pharmacy to support the increased demand due to the closures.
- Opening hours are now in line with the closed stores and the Station approach pharmacy is now open over the lunchtime period.
- We raised the concern that there was not enough seating or waiting space for service users when entering the pharmacy. Boots' stated this will be 'kept under review'.
- Over the counter medicines, consumer healthcare products and retail items are now available to purchase
- Our findings raised the concern of longer queues and waiting times experienced by patients. The text message service is now being promoted to help mitigate this.
- We raised the issue of no option for patients to have confidential conversations. Boots stated that the pharmacy is now able to offer private healthcare advice in the consultation room.
- Prescription delivery is available by both remaining pharmacies on a case-by-case basis, and Boots are considering what more they can do to expand this service locally.
Read the full response from Boots
Read our response to the Pharmacy Application
National Impact
The impacts that people experienced as a result of the way that these closures were handled and the insufficient capacity that resulted from these locally unexpected closures however were significant - but entirely avoidable.
Unless the underlying issues that led to this are resolved, the issues detailed in our report will occur again:
- Nationally, Pharmacies are closing in at a rate of 8 a week. These closures are largely driven by the challenging funding environment for pharmacies which will take additional investment to address.
- Pharmacies that are closing are required to notify a central office 3 months in advance. As is clear from Richmond's experience, (a fact underscored by Richmond's main pharmacy planning document being published in August 2023, without reference to these closures), that notice is not routinely passed on to the communities or health system impacted by the closures. The lack of notice is a systemic problem that can and should be addressed.
We have therefore asked Healthwatch England to present our findings and our concerns to the parliamentary Health and Social Care Committee. You can watch that session of the Committee here: Health and Social Care Committee: 10:00 Tuesday 16 January 2024
