Letter: Merrow and Burpham Will Be Left with Inadequate Local Pharmacy Services

Published on: 2 Nov, 2023
Updated on: 20 Jan, 2024

Boots Pharmacy, Merrow Park – Google Street View

From: Frank Phillipson

See: The Impact of the Boots Closure in Merrow Park

Further to my previous message about the Boots pharmacy at Merrow Park closing, I have now been told by a member of staff that they are closing in the first week of January. They will not be taking any prescriptions from the end of November.

The Merrow Park doctors’ surgery across the road did not know of the closure until a patient told them about it. There is no notice about the closure at the branch and there seems to have been no announcement in the media about this.

It would seem that Boots, that once trusted British brand, is intent on reducing their service to the public by stealth. If nobody knows of the closure, when it occurs it will be a fait accompli.

I gather from the surgery that a number of patients have written to our MP about this disgusting situation. Boots are closing a busy pharmacy with the Epsom Road Boots branch (if that is not also marked for closure?) already struggling to cope. This comes on top of the closure of the Lloyds pharmacy in Sainsbury’s.

If this goes ahead, Merrow and Burpham will be left with inadequate local pharmacy services at a time when their services are needed more than ever. The government message to consult a pharmacist to relieve pressure on doctors (if you can get to see one) seems very cynical.

Responses to Letter: Merrow and Burpham Will Be Left with Inadequate Local Pharmacy Services

M Durant Reply

November 3, 2023 at 10:49 am

What I find bizarre is that Boots is owned by an American company. Why is part of our health service in the hands of a large American corporation? Why are they not run by a British company?

This week I had to wait 45 minutes for my medicines to be ready, my medications have not been ready on time or on the day they say they would be ready for months. There is also a shortage of certain medications.

The online system doesn’t work either, they get medications wrong, they are not ready on time and when you have a problem with your medicines, they put you through an automated system that doesn’t have an answer to your question, so you have to go back to your GP. We need more people not more machines to do the job properly.

Shutting down two more pharmacies will put extra pressure on the other pharmacies, adding to more delays.