Dear Arden, Herefordshire and Worcestershire NHS Area Team,

We, the undersigned, are writing to express our dismay at your proposed withdrawal of funding from M W Phillips Pharmacy based at the University of Warwick. Having read your letter that outlines your reasons for doing so, we believe the decision has been made without full knowledge of the makeup of our community, is based on an incorrect assumption regarding the proximity and ease of access of nearby pharmacies and ignores the crucial ways that some students depend upon the Pharmacy.

Firstly, over 6000 students live on campus – the pharmacy that almost all use is M W Phillips. We appreciate that the yearly turnover of students makes it difficult to get accurate data but the population is well above 2000 (the figure you purportedly made your decision on). Regardless of your consideration of quantity, we have no doubt that your use of the IMD scale of deprivation has not taken into account the population of Warwick. Although the campus is situated in a wealthy area, the social makeup of campus changes each year and includes people with a multitude of backgrounds. Crucially, almost no campus resident will have a car with them. On this measure alone the assumptions made are entirely incorrect.

Secondly, your assertion that there is a pharmacy less than a mile away is inaccurate. It may be a mile away as-the-crow-flies, but is much further in practical terms. Moreover, from student accommodation on the other side of campus it is almost two miles. Given the fact that our students do not have vehicles with them it is an incredibly long distance to run when ill or requiring an emergency prescription. These are reasons enough to prevent our pharmacy from closing but what makes this decision catastrophic is that the walking route to the nearest pharmacies contains a dual carriageway with no safe crossing. This tragically led to a death just last year (http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/student-killed-after-cannon-park-6557602). The prospect of increasing pedestrian traffic over that road is terrifying.

Finally, disabled students are given priority when applying for on-campus accommodation – this means we have significant numbers of disabled individuals with a variety of specific needs on our campus. Those with partial mobility will struggle enormously with no car, a potential 2 mile walk and a dangerous dual carriageway to cross. Other students we consulted on this issue said that students with visual impairments will face immense danger when crossing the road to the pharmacy – especially since times of illnesses can exacerbate these symptoms. The effects on disabled students in particular will be devastating.

We hope you listen intently to our concerns and rethink your decision to withdraw funding from M W Phillips Pharmacy at the University of Warwick.