A REVIEW of Wellington’s pharmacy provision will be held next week thanks to a one-man campaign by retired college lecturer Roger Tozer.

NHS Somerset said in September residents’ pharmacy needs were being met for now and the future, despite the closures of Jhoots and a Boots branch on the Wellington Medical Centre site leaving the town with just Superdrug and Boots.

It even refused a licence for Orange Pharmacy to open in the town and said with nearly 2,000 new homes being built in the next few years Wellington was still adequately served by pharmacies.

But now Somerset’s health and wellbeing board has agreed to look at the situation again following a 17-page challenge prepared by Mr Tozer.

The board, which meets on Monday morning in County Hall, Taunton, is chaired by Somerset Council leader Cllr Bill Revans and comprises a mix of unitary councillors and NHS Somerset executives.

Mr Tozer said the review will examine claims the county’s official assessment of pharmacy provision was already out of date and failed to reflect major population growth in Wellington.

He said: “The Wellington area is facing a public health safety crisis.

“The official plan is supposed to run until 2028, but it is wrong before it even starts.

“With two operating pharmacies serving 17 000 residents, queues are forming 15 people deep.

“The data needs to be corrected before more houses are built and access to medicines gets worse.

“With thousands of new homes being built locally, this denial is not just misleading - it is dangerous.

“Residents deserve honesty, not spin.

“The town needs a functioning pharmacy, not an empty shop front defended by press statements.”

Mr Tozer said NHS Somerset needed to commission a plan to deliver at least three new pharmacies to restore safe, sustainable provision, and the essential integrated care lost by the closures.