Residents in Henfield forced to queue 'for hours' at village pharmacy

And Andrew Griffith, MP for Arundel and South Downs, says the situation is ‘completely unacceptable.’ He has promised to raise the matter with the Health Minister and the director of NHS Primary Care in Sussex, calling for urgent improvements.

Residents – many frail and elderly – say they have to queue to pick up their prescriptions in all weathers from the Lloyds Pharmacy in the village. And the MP witnessed the situation himself when he went to Henfield on Friday (November 11).

Dozens wrote to their MP for help and they have now also won support from the parish council and Henfield Medical Centre.

Problems first arose after the pharmacy reduced its opening hours and is now only open from 9am to 5pm, closed at lunchtimes, and no longer opens on a Saturday.

The pharmacy has blamed the situation on a lack of a permanent pharmacist, with the branch relying on locums.

The MP, who emphasised that the problems were not the fault of the staff working in the branch, said he had already written to the chief executive of Lloyds Pharmacy Kevin Birch and has now also raised the issue with government ministers.

Andrew also met with Dr Karen Crawford-Clarke, GP partner of the Henfield Medical Centre, to discuss the impact the problems are having on local GPs, nurses and staff.

He said the GPs were supporting patients by re-issuing prescriptions for collection at alternative dispensaries, but recognised that this was not a solution for all patients.

“The situation of Lloyds Pharmacy in Henfield is completely unacceptable,” he said. "Short opening hours, weekend closures and long handling times mean that residents are queuing for hours and often join the queue only to be turned away unseen at the next closing times.

"This presents an insufferable burden on those in work, those who are frail or vulnerable or simply those juggling busy commitments.

“This is not fault of the staff working in Lloyds. But the system has not worked as it should in Henfield for far too long and with the cold days and dark evenings approaching it needs to be fixed fast.”

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A spokesperson for LloydsPharmacy said:“Due to staff shortages, our pharmacy in Henfield has been operating temporary reduced hours. We would like to sincerely apologise to our customers and patients for any inconvenience this may have caused.

“At the moment, there is significant pressure on community pharmacy across the UK. This is due to sector-wide workforce issues that are not unique to LloydsPharmacy, and is highlighted by the Home Office's decision to place pharmacists on their Shortage Occupation List.

“Despite these significant challenges, we are working hard to ensure our patients can still access the care they need, and this is our number one priority.

“We would like to reassure the residents of Henfield that we take our responsibility towards the local community very seriously. This is why our field management team is actively recruiting to strengthen our teams and has an action plan in place to resume normal working hours at our pharmacy, as soon as is practically possible."