WITH the Lymm Pharmacy set to close its doors in the village for the final time this Friday (May 22nd), a local Cllr. says one remaining pharmacy is not enough to cope with the workload.
Lymm South Cllr. Graham Gowland said: “First and foremost, the frontline teams at both Lymm Pharmacy and The Cross Pharmacy are absolutely fantastic.”
“As a local councillor, I have only ever received overwhelmingly positive feedback about their dedication, care, and hard work. They have our community’s full support during what is an incredibly stressful transition caused entirely by commercial lease pressures. However, while a paperwork transfer across the road sounds simple, the physical reality is a major step backwards for Lymm. The remaining premises at The Cross Pharmacy simply do not have the infrastructure to safely handle the volume of the entire village. The building lacks vital independent wheelchair and pram access, and it does not possess equivalent private consulting space for confidential medical advice.
“I am raising this formally with the leadership of NHS Cheshire and Merseyside to challenge the suitability of this layout under accessibility standards, and I strongly urge residents to log their specific access concerns directly with the Integrated Care Board.”
He went on to explain that while individual pharmacies are private contractors, they operate entirely on behalf of the NHS. The NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board (ICB) holds the statutory responsibility for ensuring Lymm has adequate, safe, and accessible healthcare coverage.
When a pharmacy closes due to commercial pressures, the ICB cannot force it to stay open. However, the ICB is legally responsible for the remaining level of service in the village under the NHS Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment regulations.
By allowing all patient services to automatically default to a single, remaining site, the ICB is sanctioning a situation where a building with known accessibility barriers (two steps and a non-compliant portable ramp) is being forced to absorb a massive 150 per cent workload spike.
Furthermore, as a public authority, the ICB is bound by the Public Sector Equality Duty. They have a legal obligation to ensure that changes to local NHS provisions do not discriminate against elderly or disabled patients.
Because the remaining footprint lacks proper independent access and equivalent private clinical space for the ‘Pharmacy First’ scheme (shrinking from 2 consultation rooms to one that’s harder to access), the ICB has a direct regulatory duty to step in, review the physical suitability of the remaining provision, and ensure Lymm’s infrastructure is fit for purpose.
As reported previously, the Lymm Pharmacy is closing due to increased rents and overheads which have made it unviable as a business.
All clients are being transferred to the nearby The Cross Pharmacy.
1 Comment
With the amount of new builds being carried out at present I find it strange