Liberal Democrat MP Munira Wilson, of Twickenham constituency, raised the shortage of pharmacies in local neighbourhood Hampton North in Parliament on Friday, 26 July.

Ms Wilson called for a new pharmacy to be opened in the neighbourhood to address the closure of two local Boots pharmacies late last year.

Hampton North, one of the three wards of relative deprivation in the borough, no longer contains a pharmacy.

The MP raised concerns about the neighbourhood's elderly and vulnerable residents in particular, saying: "Hampton North is poorly served by public transport [...] closures have put a lot of pressure on the nearest remaining pharmacies, with queues and stock issues."

She went on to highlight one 87-year-old resident who, despite paying for medication deliveries from her nearest pharmacy over a mile away, has only received them twice in the last eight months.

The pharmacy closures in Hampton follow national trends, with NHS data revealing a net loss of over 1,200 pharmacies nationwide since 2015.

Meanwhile, a report from the National Pharmacy Association indicates that community pharmacy closures are nearly 50 percent higher in 2024 than last year, equivalent to a loss of 10 pharmacies each week.

Ms Wilson puts the shortage down to "delays in NHS decision making processes, adding: "I call on the Government to review the bureaucratic processes involved and increase investment in our community pharmacies to ensure that they can thrive and grow as an essential part of our primary care infrastructure."

The MP is not alone in her concerns: local resident Nupur Majumdar started a petition earlier in the year to open a new pharmacy in the wards.

"Many residents, particularly the elderly, are now forced to undertake long walks or bus rides just to access basic pharmaceutical services. The lack of a local pharmacy is not only inconvenient but also poses serious health risks," writes Ms Majumdar in her petition.

Have you been affected by recent pharmacy closures? Get in touch with the editor at [email protected].