I stand here, not just for myself, but as a voice of the local people who rely heavily on our pharmacy Church View Pharmacy 365 (Sandwell) [hereafter referred to as ‘CV365’ ] for the NHS Pharmacy First Service. For which I urge you to resume funding 

CV365 is a talented busy walk in pharmacy in a deprived area opening every day for extended hours into the evening. They have had an enormous positive impact on the Cradley Heath area. Before they did this, for many years we regularly endured poor access to basic healthcare. This pharmacy service caters to the local population and our well-being is being compromised due to the non-funding of the service.

CV365 is integral for our day-to-day health management they perform consultations, checks, screening, triaging, assessments and prescribing. They save thousands of GP visits and hospital admissions yearly and are improving people’s health and lives. We can come in unannounced and get seen almost immediately with no appointment needed. 

This provides quick access to many benefits for the public which include avoidance of serious consequences such as serious infections, disease progression, debilitation, complications, higher healthcare costs, reduced quality of life, disability, paralysis and even death. 

NHS change is desperately required to remove health inequalities and allow everyone free quick access, flexibility and choice to meet their healthcare needs regardless of the means to pay. 

Please remove unnecessary hindrance and red tape to allow implementation of innovative healthcare services solutions in our community as this has become an essential lifeline for us

Many people like me are shocked to learn our local pharmacy has been racking up debt for so long just to provide us with care and services. The harsh reality is that without immediate financial support, CV365 will be forced to close their doors for services completely and we will lose this lifeline. 

I hope you’ll agree that’s unthinkable when so many people are struggling to see their GPs and spend on their health when already deprived and to pass this on to A and E is not fair on the tax payer, pharmacy or hospital.