Decision to close hospital's pharmacy will not be reversed despite concerns

The pharmacy at Finchley Memorial Hospital closed earlier this month, reports Joe Ives, Local Democracy Reporter

Finchley Memorial Hospital and (inset) a pharmacy

New analysis will not reverse a decision to close a “clearly important and valued local pharmacy” at Finchley Memorial Hospital.

That was the news presented to Barnet Council’s health and wellbeing board at a meeting yesterday (Thursday 24th).

Alison Moore, cabinet member for adult social care and health, said news of the closure of Fairview Pharmacy, based in Finchley Memorial Hospital, had “attracted a lot of public concern”.

In June, this led to the council’s health and wellbeing board requesting “extra time to do due diligence” on the potential impact of the pharmacy’s closure.

However, on Thursday it was explained that the analysis will not lead to the pharmacy, which closed earlier this month, reopening its doors.

The council’s health board has a legal responsibility to publish a ‘pharmaceutical needs assessment’ (PNA) every three years. This review looks at “pharmaceutical provision” within the borough and what changes, including pharmacy closures, should be explored.

The latest Barnet PNA, completed last year, recommended that the pharmacy in Finchley Memorial Hospital be closed. Considering the issue in June, the board noted a “potential gap” in pharmaceutical provision in the area from the loss of Fairview.

This led to further work with the West and North London Integrated Care Board (WNL ICB) over recent months to “clarify the appropriate statutory process” behind the decision. The potential impacts of the pharmacy’s closure “within the wider, Barnet pharmaceutical network” were also reassessed.

This review looked at the numbers of people using the pharmacy, its accessibility and opening hours – as well as alternative provision available nearby.

Dr Mohammed Jawad, deputy director of public health at the local authority, said the additional analysis found that, although “Fairview was clearly an important and valued local pharmacy” the re-assessments did not “materially alter” the original reasoning behind the closure decision.

Dr Jawad said the loss of Fairview will reduce the number of pharmacies in the borough from 71 to 70. This, he argued, would result in “only a small change” in the number of pharmacies available per head of the population, falling from 17.5 to 17.3 pharmacies per 100,000 Barnet residents.

He added that the “borough-wide access” to pharmacies “remains broadly stable”, reflected by the fact that all Barnet residents still remain within 15 minutes driving distance of a pharmacy.

Dr Jawad acknowledged that there would be some detrimental effects of Fairview’s closure. These include a reduction in the availability of pharmacy access on the weekends for people in the area and on “the continuity of Covid-19 vaccination provision”.

Th deputy health director continued: “These are important considerations and should continue to be addressed through commissioning discussions with the ICB.

“However, the evidence does not indicate a borough-wide gap in pharmaceutical provision that would justify re-opening or substantially revising the pharmaceutical needs assessment.”

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