New pharmacies for areas hit by closures

AN NHS APPEALS BODY HAS RULED THAT NEW PHARMACIES CAN OPEN IN HEATON AND KENTON

- By DANIEL HOLLAND

HEALTH chiefs' decision to stop new pharmacies opening in two areas of Newcastle hit by closures has been overturned. City leaders have celebrated a move to allow pharmacies to open in both Heaton and Kenton, amid complaints that a shortage of services had left locals facing longer journeys and two-hour queues.

Applications for new pharmacy contracts had previously been refused by local NHS officials, despite an outcry over the number of chemists shutting down in Newcastle. Boots has closed down branches in Heaton, Jesmond, Byker, Cruddas Park and Kenton over the past couple of years, while a Lloyds pharmacy inside the Heaton Sainsbury's also shut.