THE lack of pharmacy provision in Wellington is being raised with the health service Ombudsman after campaigner Roger Tozer said he was ‘stonewalled’ by the Somerset Heath and Wellbeing Board (SHWB).

Retired college lecturer Mr Tozer asked a board meeting on Tuesday (November 26) to look into what he said was a flawed NHS Somerset assessment that the town had sufficient pharmacies to cope with demand.

He said: “The board chose to defend a lie instead of protecting our community and our council's budget.

“I have now filed a formal complaint with the Ombudsman.

“This failure to govern means the crisis is now in the hands of the external regulator, which must compel the correction and force the NHS to deliver the safe, accessible services that Wellington’s population urgently requires.”

Mr Tozer said NHS Somerset’s pharmaceutical needs assessment (PNA) for Wellington, a legally required document, was out of date from before it was produced.

The PNA was based on three pharmacies operating in Wellington because the NHS refused to accept Jhoots was closed, even though it had not been open for months, leaving only Boots and Superdrug.

Mr Tozer said the lack of pharmacies meant long queues of customers and challenges for people needing medication, resulting in a ‘public safety risk’.

But, he said SHWB, which is chaired by Somerset Council leader Cllr Bill Revans, had failed to discharge its statutory duty for 10 months by neglecting to correct the PNA.

He said: “This inaction is an active governance failure that endangers public health.”

Mr Tozer said there appeared to be ‘a round-and-round game of shifting blame’ with the authorities involved.

Somerset director of public health Alison Bell told the board meeting she stood by the NHS claim that there was no physical pharmacy gap in Wellington and Boots and Superdrug were sufficient.