Pontardawe has a pharmacy crisis. Elderly residents are going without their medication, people are queuing for up to an hour and a half to collect their prescriptions and many people catch the bus from nearby towns only to find that Lloyd and Well pharmacies are closed due to staff shortages or that their prescriptions are not ready.
So when a local pharmacist proposed to open a third independent pharmacy in Pontardawe in 2020 and called town mayor and former county councillor Linet Purcell for advice she was overjoyed. Unfortunately not much has changed since that initial phone call with the hopeful pharmacist.
"I nearly fell of my chair with excitement because this is what we need. To go from there which was about three years ago to where we are now is indescribably frustrating," said the mayor. You can read more stories about Neath here.
Read more: People queuing 90 minutes for prescriptions in town suffering pharmacy crisis
One local resident, Clive Reed, 79, said he suffers with chronic pain and becomes very anxious when he is low on medication due to the ongoing issues with his local pharmacy in Pontardawe. Mr Reed said he has had to lie on the floor of the pharmacy in pain as other people walk around him or kneel on the floor while he waits for his medication.
Mr Reed now gets his prescriptions delivered monthly but can no longer call his pharmacy to check when his prescription will be delivered as they do not answer. On 28th October, his delivery from the pharmacy did not arrive.
"I become very anxious about when I will receive my next provision of medication- desperate even- and I count out the few remaining morphine tablets over and over again. I have resorted on numerous occasions to head butting a stone wall to shock myself out of pain.
"I telephoned the Pontardawe Primary Care Centre to enquire if a GP had signed off my prescription and I was informed it had been done and delivered to the pharmacy but there was a problem because there was no pharmacist at the pharmacy and no medication or prescriptions could be processed or medication given to ill patients if a pharmacist was not present."
In November 2020, Swansea pharmacist Ajmol Ali applied for a third pharmacy due to complaints to local councillors of a shortage of pharmacists and an increase in resident numbers resulting from new housing developments among other factors.
This application was rejected by the health board on the grounds that they had received no complaints and the two pharmacies were sufficient. Cllr Purcell said the complaints she had received from local residents were dismissed as "anecdotal".
""This is much worse than people just having to queue, which is bad enough," said Cllr Purcell.
"Obviously the whole situation worries me," she said. "But there's a massive point of principle here in that you've got a very distant organisation of the health board and then even more distant- the Welsh government- who are making a decision and taking no notice whatsoever of the people of the ground who actually know what's going on."
When the health board rejected this initial application they used a map to explain their decision, Cllr Purcell said this map missed out key areas of Pontardawe including care homes in Ynysmeudwy and Rhydyfro, sheltered housing at Riverside and Pontardawe Health Centre.
An appeal was then submitted to the Welsh Government in October 2021. In a letter of support, GPs across Pontardawe stated there were factual inaccuracies in the Health Board's report such as the incorrect map. Pontardawe GPs also said they had complained directly to the health board several times about the pharmacy and the risk to patients' safety and these complaints had been ongoing for three years. This appeal was rejected by the Welsh Government.
Recently, Sioned Williams MS spoke about Pontardawe's pharmacy crisis in the Senedd. On the current issue of pharmacy provision in the area she said:
"I've been told and have witnessed myself patients frequently having to wait over an hour and a half for their prescriptions. I raised this with Swansea Bay University Health Board over a year ago, when the application to open an additional pharmacy was turned down.
"I also raised the matter with the Health Minister and the First Minister when an appeal against that decision was rejected by Welsh Government- despite accepting some of the arguments put forward by the community, which included all the GPs and local Plaid Cymru Councillors in favour of an additional pharmacy.
"In their response to me, Ministers referred to plans by the Health Board to address local concerns, and I have since reached out to Swansea Bay Health Board for clarity over the exact steps they are taking. The people of Pontardawe and surrounding communities deserve better than this, and the Health Board and Welsh Government must think again about this decision.”
A spokesperson for the Welsh Government said they appreciate the decision may be disappointing and they understand there are issues around the provision of services in the area. The spokesperson said Swansea Bay University Health Board is taking steps to address these issues.
A spokesperson from Swansea Bay University Health Board said the application for a third pharmacy on Herbert Street Pontardawe was rejected as the committee decided there was already adequate provision and that this decision was recently upheld by the Welsh Government on appeal.
The spokesperson said that a Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA) for the health board found no issues with the capacity of pharmaceutical provision in Pontardawe.
"We have met with the two pharmacies, the local GP practice and local representatives and hope the service provided by the existing pharmacies will continue to improve in the weeks ahead." The health board encourages patients to discuss specific concerns with their pharmacist or pharmacy manager.
“Our meeting identified a way forward for pharmacy provision, with an action plan agreed to improve patient experience. The health board will continue to monitor services, with a follow up meeting set for December.”
“We would encourage patients to discuss specific concerns with their pharmacist or pharmacy manager who will assist and, where appropriate, investigate, respond and identify where learning is needed.
A spokesperson from Lloyds Pharmacy said:
“As is expected during this time of year, there is an increasing demand for community health services. As a result, our Pontardawe store has been increasingly busy, and sometime our patients have had to wait longer than usual. Nevertheless, we can confirm that the store is operating as usual and we have consistently been able to provide support for our patients and customers. Furthermore, our senior management team is working very closely with the local health board to ensure our Pharmacy provision meets the local community’s ongoing needs.”
A spokesperson for Well Pharmacy said: “We’d like to apologise to our customers in Pontardawe for any delays or inconvenience they’ve experienced. We’re working hard to tackle the intermittent operational challenges people are facing, including recruiting additional staff, introducing queue management during our busiest times, looking at the layout of the store to improve patient flow, and using text messaging to let patients know when their medication is ready to collect so they can avoid a wasted trip.
“We’re working closely with local medical practices and other pharmacies to improve communication locally, and also with the health board and local Councillor. We appreciate how patient and supportive many of our patients have been to our staff despite these challenges, and we’ll keep working to improve our service further.”
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