A council report which describes the provision of pharmacies as ‘adequate’ in south Cumbria has been criticised by councillors in light of pharmacy closures.

Members of the health and wellbeing board for Westmorland and Furness Council have approved the pharmaceutical needs assessment report for the area but criticised the description of services being ‘adequate’.

This comes after the recent closure of the Lloyds pharmacy in Penrith and the board was also told in the council meeting on Tuesday (December 5) that two Boots pharmacies in Barrow are set to close in February.

Senior analyst Ali Wilson told the board that herself and colleagues in the public health team are looking at the potential impact of those closures.

However, Ms Wilson described the current number of pharmacies in Barrow as ‘excellent’ and said the public health team hope the impact of the planned closures will be ‘very low’.

Deputy leader of the council, councillor Patricia Bell (Penrith North, Lib Dems), said she finds it ‘extremely difficult’ to see how the report concluded the provision of pharmacies was ‘adequate’ considering the closure of pharmacies in Penrith.

Cllr Bell added: “We heard in an earlier presentation that the community pharmacy consultation is part of hospital admission avoidance, and we know that people are being signposted to pharmacies as an alternative to going to the GP so how can a declining service be adequate.”

Ms Wilson responded and said there is nothing in national guidance or the national pharmaceutical regulations which provides any advice or thresholds as to what is deemed adequate since different areas have different needs.

The pharmaceutical assessment needs report concludes: “The overall provision of pharmaceutical services is considered adequate in Westmorland and Furness by the health and wellbeing board, no gaps in services have been identified.

“However, it is recognised that there is a reduction in overall pharmaceutical provision and in particular out of hours provision following the closure of Lloyds pharmacy in the former Eden district area (centre of Penrith); and following the inception of the new national Regulations enabling 100-hour pharmacies to reduce their core hours to 72 hours which has resulted in reductions in some out of hours provision in Barrow and Kendal.”

“There are many rural communities within Westmorland and Furness, and it is acknowledged people living in the sparsely populated rural communities have the furthest to travel to pharmaceutical services.

“The health and wellbeing board will continue to monitor the increasing demands on pharmaceutical services in the future including housing developments and potential pharmacy closures”, the report adds.