After petitions were launched to retain the day surgical operation in the town by many patients and supporters including Uckfield MP Mims Davies, townspeople were horrified to hear Kamsons Pharmacy will shut its unit at the hospital.
East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust provides a range of day surgery in a 15-bed unit at Uckfield but said it wanted to increase the overall number of day surgery procedures by moving treatments to hospitals in Eastbourne and Hastings. At the time, Cllr Duncan Bennett launched a petition to retain the unit. He said closing it will cause stress for patients who will have to travel further for treatment.
The consultant-led unit at Uckfield provided day surgery for maxillofacial, urology and vascular minor procedures. An NHS spokesman said: "Surgery delivered by our Trust has been stepped down for six months on a pilot basis. There has not been a decision to close the unit."
Now Kamsons Pharmacy will close its doors in a few weeks after the NHS 'massively” increased its rent. Kamsons has run a pharmacy at Uckfield Hospital for 30 years but says 'the double whammy of a rent hike plus reductions in NHS for 30 years but says the double whammy of a rent hike plus reductions in NHS funding of pharmacies means it is no longer viable.
NHS Property says it has tried to negotiate with Kamsons, and offered a rent 'significantly lower' than the market rate, but this had been turned down. It is now talking to the GP surgery which may move into the vacant unit after Kamsons moves out on 1 March this year.Mark Donaghy, professional development manager at Kamsons, said: “It is incredibly sad that after 45 years since we opened our first pharmacy in Uckfield and 30 years after opening this pharmacy in Uckfield Hospital, that the severe lack of funding is causing its closure.
“Community pharmacies are now being paid 28% less in real terms than we were before the pandemic. Not only have there been no increases, spending by the NHS on community pharmacies has actually decreased inthe last few years.“Despite keeping our doors open throughout COVID, we are now seeing nearly a dozen community pharmacies closing in the last year in Sussex because of lack of funding. We cannot continue to open if we have one part of the NHS massively decreasing our income and another part massively increasing our rent.”
An NHS Property Services (NHSPS) spokesperson said: “All rental valuations undertaken by NHSPS are in line with current market practice. When valuing a co-located pharmacy unit, we use standard valuation methodology where rent is determined on a rate-per-patient basis. We have engaged with Kamsons directly to explore options to support a lower rental rate, and we offered a sum significantly lower than the market rent rate assessed by the Valuation Office Agency.
“We work hard to support and ensure communities can access pharmacy services and that value for the NHS continues to be obtained and protected. We are disappointed that Kamsons chose to end their occupancy and are now working with occupiers and commissioners to understand how the space within Uckfield Hospital can be best utilised. This includes exploring the vacated space being allocated to the general practitioners’ surgery already on site.”