The petition of residents of Totnes,
Declares that the closure of the Leatside Pharmacy, located at the Leatside GP Surgery in Totnes, has significantly impacted local access to essential NHS pharmacy services; further declares that many residents —especially older people and those with mobility challenges—now face increased travel distances and longer waiting times to access prescriptions and pharmacy advice; notes that ongoing issues with alternative local pharmacies have highlighted the urgent need to reopen the pharmacy at Leatside GP Surgery; and notes separate online and paper petitions on the same issue have generated over 3000 signatures demonstrating local support for this campaign.
The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Government to work with NHS England to prioritise the reopening of a pharmacy at Leatside GP Surgery to ensure timely, accessible, and reliable pharmaceutical care for the residents of Totnes.
And the petitioners remain, etc.—[Presented by Caroline Voaden, Official Report, 22 July 2025; Vol. 771, c. 810.]
[P003103]
Observations from the Minister for Care (Stephen Kinnock):
The opening or closure of a pharmacy is not a Government decision. Most pharmacies are not directly commissioned by the NHS. Instead, there is a market entry system in place to regulate where pharmacies open and which services they provide.
The need for pharmaceutical services is best decided at local level and this is why local authorities’ health and wellbeing boards are legally required to undertake a pharmaceutical needs assessment every three years to assess whether their population is adequately served. HWBs must keep the PNAs under review. If they identify significant changes to the local need, a new assessment must be produced. If, however, they conclude that a new assessment is not a proportionate response to the change, but the change is relevant for the consideration by the integrated care board of applications from new contractors, they can publish a supplementary statement. This statement becomes part of the PNA.
NHS ICBs are responsible for commissioning NHS primary care services, including pharmaceutical services. Potential pharmacy contractors apply to the ICB and offer to provide NHS services in a particular location either to meet the need identified in the PNA or to provide benefits to local communities that were not foreseen when the PNA was written. ICBs are required to have regard to the PNAs when reviewing applications from the new contractors. Other local providers are also given an opportunity to comment on the new applications and can also dispute the ICB’s decision to either approve or reject an application.
In this case, it is on the public record that the NHS Devon ICB decided to grant an application by PharmaDerma Ltd for inclusion in the pharmaceutical list offering unforeseen benefits at Leatside health centre in Totnes. This decision was however appealed by Stu Lambert.
The appeal was heard by NHS Resolution, which is the body responsible for ensuring the prompt and fair resolution of appeals and disputes between primary care contractors or those wishing to provide primary care services and ICBs. NHS Resolution’s primary care appeals committee considered the appeal against the decision by the NHS Devon ICB to grant the application by PharmaDerma Ltd. The committee reviewed all available evidence, including a site visit report submitted by the ICB and the representations of patients, the MP and NHS contractors, and considered whether the granting of the application would confer significant benefits. The committee concluded that:
there is already a reasonable choice with regard to obtaining pharmaceutical services;
there is no evidence of people sharing a protected characteristic having difficulty in accessing pharmaceutical services; and
there is no evidence that innovative approaches would be taken with regard to the delivery of pharmaceutical services.
Therefore, having taken these matters into account, the committee was not satisfied that granting the application would confer significant benefits that would secure improvements or better access to pharmaceutical services.
There are no appeals rights to the decisions made by NHS Resolution. However, each case is considered on its merits and the decision to refuse an application by a particular contractor does not prevent the same or a different contractor from submitting a different application to open a pharmacy at the same or a different location in the area.