An assessment on whether Bracknell needs more pharmacies will begin this month after a councillor said residents were finding it ‘increasingly difficult’ to access them.
Councillor Sophie Forester asked at last week’s full council meeting for leaders to encourage the Frimley Integrated Care Board (ICB) to open more pharmacies in the area.
She highlighted research by the National Pharmacy Association found Bracknell Forest to have one of the lowest numbers of pharmacies per 100,000 people.
But previous assessments found the borough was ‘well served’, with 18 pharmacies across Bracknell Forest and a further 14 within a mile radius.
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The cabinet member for adults and public health said she would ‘definitely’ lobby for more provision at the next assessment, which is set to begin in December.
The Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA), which covered October 2022 to September 2025, sets out whether there are enough services for residents. It found that there were no needs for more provision in the area.
Councillor Forster argued there was a ‘gap’ between resident feedback and the PNA’s findings.
“The message we are receiving as councillors from residents on the ground is that access to pharmaceutical provision is increasingly difficult,” she said.
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Councillor Wright, cabinet member for adults and public health, agreed with her colleague and invited councillors to inform her about areas where residents were struggling with provision.
The new PNA will begin assessment this month and is expected to take around six months to complete.
It will be presented to Bracknell Forest Council’s Health and Wellbeing Board by June 2025 before it goes onto NHS England.
The cabinet member further said that regulation changes in May 2023 meant that pharmacies could reduce their opening hours to 72 hours a week.
She said the council were already working with pharmacies that have reduced their opening hours.
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Bracknell Forest’s population has risen by 10 per cent since 2011, with many locals arguing that housebuilding has not been met with provision of extra services, like pharmacies and GP surgeries.
Figures from the NPA found that neighbouring Wokingham ranked as having the second lowest provision of pharmacies in the country, while West Berkshire was found to have the least.
The association warned that rural areas were becoming ‘pharmacy deserts’, with people having to travel further for vital medication and advice.
It warned that pharmacies are ‘on the brink because of a decade of real-term cuts, creating a material threat to the security of medicine supply in some areas if closures continue’.
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