Pharmacy minister Stephen Kinnock has told MPs that “the services provided by Jhoots are falling well below the mark”.
Speaking during a House of Commons discussion about the pharmacy chain last week (October 15), he said that it is “completely and utterly unacceptable if a business such as Jhoots is not paying its staff”.
A Jhoots representative told C+D that the accusations of financial mismanagement only relate to the pharmacies owned and operated by Sarbjit Jhooty and not those owned and operated by Manjit Jhooty – which are “independent businesses”. Read the statement in full below.
Read more: Staff struggle to feed their kids after Jhoots missed January wages
Kinnock’s comments came in response to a question from Liberal Democrat MP for West Dorset Edward Morello.
Morello had asked whether health secretary Wes Streeting would make a statement on “the adequacy of Jhoots as a pharmacy provider”.
“Intolerable situation”
Morello told Kinnock that “Jhoots branches in Lyme Regis and Bridport have been closed for months, leaving thousands without access to essential medication and placing a huge strain on overstretched neighbouring pharmacies”.
“Jhoots staff have gone months without pay” and “many are unable to buy food or pay rent” and are “relying on food banks”, he continued.
The Lib Dem MP also noted that there had been “reports of staff recruited by Jhoots under skilled worker visas being left without income or resource”, as well as “troubling reports of controlled drugs being removed without proper documentation or process”.
Read more: Jhoots: Patients redirected as script numbers plummet
Labour MP for Hertford and Stortford Josh Dean similarly spoke of Jhoots pharmacy staff who had told him they were “struggling with their mortgages or unable to afford food for their children’s school lunches”.
Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat MP for North Shropshire Helen Morgan stressed that Jhoots staff have “been placed in an intolerable situation” and Labour MP for Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes Melanie Onn said it was “absolutely appalling”.
Onn highlighted that “five members of staff” from a Jhoots pharmacy in her constituency had been to see her and informed her that despite “going into work”, they had “not been paid since July”.
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“The way Jhoots is treating its workforce, the community and suppliers is frankly appalling,” Conservative MP for Bromsgrove Bradley Thomas said, adding that “it is failing communities who desperately rely on it”.
Kinnock stressed that it is “completely unacceptable that people are coming into work, doing an honest day’s work and then not receiving an honest day’s pay”.
And he assured MPs that “NHS England (NHSE) is assessing the situation and preparing contingency plans in case Jhoots becomes insolvent”.
Jhoots: “Independent businesses”
A representative for Jhoots last week (October 16) told C+D that the accusations of financial mismanagement only relate to the pharmacies under the ownership and operation of Sarbjit Jhooty and his company Jhoots Pharmacy Limited.
They stressed that they do not relate to Manjit Jhooty, who owns and operates 21 of the 151 pharmacies trading under the Jhoots Pharmacy brand name through his companies Jhoots Healthcare Limited and Pasab Limited.
Manjit and several other directors resigned from Jhoots Pharmacy Limited in August 2019, while Sarbjit is not a director of Jhoots Healthcare Limited and Pasab Limited, they said.
Read more: Jhooty and the GPs: Employee pins miscarriage on pay stress as staff owed thousands
“There is no legal, financial or governance connection between my companies and those operated by Sarbjit Jhooty - we are independent businesses and share only the Jhoots Pharmacy brand name,” Jhoots Healthcare Ltd and Pasab Ltd director Manjit Jhooty said.
“The pharmacies that my businesses operate are all fully solvent, functional and continue to provide important services and professional support to their local communities and that is not going to change,” he added.
C+D also approached Sarbjit Jhooty for comment.
It comes after extensive C+D reporting on the pharmacy chain, including that staff had been unable to “pay for groceries” and had to “hitch rides” to work after it failed to pay their wages, while others said they were owed thousands and resorting to food banks.
