Kingsclere villagers petition to save village chemist

Pharmacy benefiting elderly and infirm under threat of closure

KINGSCLERE villagers and councillors are petitioning to keep the village chemist in the face of government cuts.

At a recent meeting of Kingsclere Parish Council, vice-chairman Mick Farey warned that the Government was reducing funding for community pharmacies, which provide a vital service for the elderly.

He said: “It could result in 3,000 small pharmacies closing.

“Anything we can do as a council and village to support the retention of our facilities we need to do.”

Basingstoke and Deane borough councillor Cathy Osselton (Con, Kingsclere) said there was a cluster of pharmacies in neighbouring towns and villages, including at Newbury and Tadley.

The number of pharmacies nearby, combined with budget reductions, meant Kingsclere Pharmacy in Swan Street could be at risk.

Any closure of the village pharmacy would impact most on those without a car in the village, who would face further to travel to pick up prescriptions.

A petition placed in the Kingsclere chemist opposing the budget cuts has already amassed nearly 1,000 signatures and Mrs Osselton said: “It’s imperative that you sign that petition.”

Concerns were voiced that the services of the Kingsclere Pharmacy’s qualified pharmacist, including over-the-counter advice about medicines, would be lost to the village.

Villager Jim Gibb, aged 84, a former parish councillor, said his wife suffered from Parkinson’s disease and he was her carer.

He said: “As it happens I can drive, but some people can’t even walk. There are people relying on that chemist in a worse position to me.

“If we don’t have a pharmacy here you have to go to Newbury, or Basingstoke or Tadley, and there’s no bus service to Tadley.”

Villager Stewart Packham, said he picked up three different prescriptions on behalf of other villagers from the Kingsclere pharmacy.

He said: “If we lose our chemist we will have to go outside the village.”

Mr Packham said villagers could then face a long and futile trip to Boots in Basingstoke, only to discover the required medicine was unavailable.

He said: “We get a telephone call to say the item is unavailable from Mr Butt [the Kingsclere pharmacist]. It’s a privilege that we get.

“It’s vital that we keep our chemist.”