PROBLEMS with the pharmacy service in Camelford were discussed at the town council meeting on Tuesday, September 15 after residents experienced difficulty in collecting their prescriptions.

The town clerk, Mr Brian Groves, contacted Boots Chemist after a number of people complained about the time it took to get prescription from the branch in the town. On one occasion, residents were unable to pick up their prescription when the shop failed to open one Saturday.

In his letter, Mr Groves requested that the area manager responsible for the branch attends a council meeting to explain what happens when the shop fails to open and patients cannot collect their prescription drugs.

Mr Groves explained: "Briefly the shop failed to open one Saturday morning and no prescriptions could be fulfilled. The problem increases in that the prescriptions are sent direct from the surgery to the shop and when it doesn't open the patients cannot obtain their drugs.

"When this was queried later with the staff in the shop some time later, the patients were told to contact the out of hour service of the NHS but I need not here dilate on the extra problems, distress and hassle that causes to people."

A reply was sent to Mr Groves from Iona Blake, Team Manager from the Senior Customer Manager Team for Boots, which was read at the council meeting.

She apologised for the delay in replying, and with reference to the Camelford pharmacy, said: "It's regretful that on the day in question our pharmacy was unable to open. We're unable to open some of our smaller stores when there is no pharmacist on the premises due to guidelines issued by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB). I do however understand that this caused a considerable amount of inconvenience to the residents of Camelford and I'd like to offer our sincerest apologies for this.

"The Area Pharmacy Manager has already reviewed this incident at length to ensure that the resource level is right for this store. We've also reviewed what emergency resource we can call on should there be an occasion where our regular pharmacist is unable to attend."

She added: "I do sincerely appreciate the concern that this whole matter has caused for the local community, however, it does appear that this was an isolated, albeit unfortunate, incident. We take our responsibilities as a local healthcare provider very seriously Mr Groves and I hope that the above information is sufficient to offer the council reassurance that this won't happen again."

After hearing the reply, Cllr Bonnie Grills said the problems were continuing, and stated: "People are still having to wait for their prescriptions."

Mayor of Camelford, Cllr Brian Lush said: "To avoid delays, there needs to be something done."

Cllr Lush suggested that the council write back to Boots, thanking them for their reply, but informing them that feedback from the community shows that there are still problems.