The Jhoots Pharmacy brand is made up of various independent businesses, some of which have come under fire for a range of issues over several months.
Now, a letter from pharmacy minister Stephen Kinnock seen by C+D has revealed a plethora of actions taken against these businesses – including that integrated care boards (ICBs) across the country are working to strip “over 20” Jhoots pharmacies of their NHS contracts.
Read more: DH working to ‘resolve’ Jhoots situation ‘as quickly as possible’
NHS Resolution last month (October 29) upheld Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB’s decision to “remove a Jhoots store from the pharmaceutical list” following an “appeal by Jhoots against the decision”, the letter sent to all MPs last week (November 11) said.
It revealed that ICBs “have started procedures to remove over 20 more stores from the pharmaceutical list” - meaning they can no longer provide NHS services permanently - but that details of the specific stores will not be shared “until the appeals processes are concluded”.
The pharmacy minister said that the decision by Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB “was very much a test case, as removal of a pharmacy from the pharmaceutical list is a very rare event” with issues “usually rectified and [services] brought up to standard at an earlier stage”.
Read more: Revealed: The 60 Jhoots locations taken over by Allied Pharmacies
“ICBs across the country will take learnings from this case to ensure future regulatory action to remove pharmacies is prompt and effective,” he added.
Kinnock revealed that as of last month, ICBs have already issued “almost 1,300 remedial and breach notices to Jhoots stores” aiming to “stop repeat violations”.
The notices “can include withholding remuneration until the contractor shows improvement” and ICBs can remove pharmacies from the pharmaceutical list if the notices “do not lead to improvements”, he added.
GPhC “enforcement action”
The letter also said that the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) is “taking enforcement action against six Jhoots premises” as well as “considering whether some Jhoots companies have reached the threshold for disqualification”.
The GPhC has powers to disqualify the proprietor of a pharmacy business, which will generally be a company, and remove some or all of the premises they own from its register, it explained.
While the GPhC “does not currently have powers to disqualify directors”, the Department of Health and Social Care (DH) is “looking at” this “regulatory gap”, it added.
Read more: BREAKING: Allied Pharmacies takes over 60 Jhoots branches
Kinnock has also “convened a roundtable meeting with representatives from the GPhC, NHS England (NHSE) and ICBs to discuss Jhoots and coordinate actions going forward”, he said.
And he reiterated that his officials are carrying out a “rapid analysis of the regulations governing pharmacies” and “will consider any changes required as identified in this work as soon as possible”.
Companies in administration
According to the letter, Jhoots is “an umbrella name for 39 limited companies with approximately 148 pharmacies” - of which a “significant number” but “not all” are “failing to meet the expected standards”.
It said that an administrator has been appointed after 22 of these companies - with 62 associated pharmacies - last month “filed a notice of intention to appoint an administrator”.
Read more: Xrayser: Reputational damage
Should administrators decide to sell any of the pharmacies, commissioners “will work to facilitate changes of ownership to the new owners so that the stores can continue to or resume support for patients as soon as possible,” Kinnock said.
He added that the DH and NHSE are “monitoring the situation closely as it develops” and “are coordinating a unified national approach amongst ICBs”.
Read more: Kinnock: Jhoots services are falling ‘well below the mark’
Earlier this month, Allied Pharmacies announced that it had “taken over the management of 60 Jhoots pharmacies” - and that while the “majority of these locations are temporarily closed”, it is “fully committed to reinstating essential pharmacy services”.
Referencing the deal, the pharmacy minister said in his letter that ICBs “will undertake the usual checks to ensure any new owners of the pharmacies meet the regulatory requirements”.
“Given the current levels of service…the sale of these stores is likely to deliver the best outcome for patients and be the quickest route to restoring access to pharmaceutical services,” he added.
“Unpaid wages”
Kinnock acknowledged that there is “significant concern” about staff and locum pharmacists owed wages by Jhoots branches, adding that he has met with the Pharmacists’ Defence Association (PDA) and urged the union “to do anything [it] can to support [its] members”.
He also urged “any pharmacy staff who have not received their wages” to seek support from the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) and speak to their trade union, as both can “support staff in making a claim to an employment tribunal to recover unpaid wages”.
Kinnock said that he is engaging with “the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to draw attention to Jhoots and their practices, including cases of non-payment of staff”.
Read more: Exclusive: Unpaid locums take legal action against Jhoots pharmacies
And he added that the Home Office has “revoked the Jhoots Group’s license to sponsor skilled worker visas due to underpayment of their sponsored workers” and that his officials will “continue to liaise with the Home Office on this”.
Kinnock stressed that he is taking issues concerning the Jhoots pharmacies “extremely seriously” and is “urgently working to resolve” them “as a matter of priority”.
He said that “businesses must be held accountable where standards are not met and patients are let down”.
“My aim is to restore public trust in community pharmacy, uphold the highest standards across the sector and ensure patients continue to have access to quality pharmaceutical services,” he added.
“Independent businesses”
There are various businesses operating under the Jhoots Pharmacy brand name, and a representative for two of these previously told C+D that the numerous allegations of financial mismanagement at Jhoots pharmacies do not relate to those under Manjit Jhooty’s ownership and operation.
Manjit Jhooty owns and operates 21 of the pharmacies trading under the Jhoots Pharmacy brand name through his companies Jhoots Healthcare Limited and Pasab Limited.
“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,” he said at the time.
Read more: Jhoots pharmacies ‘named and shamed’ for minimum wage breach
“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 approached all known owners and operators of Jhoots pharmacy businesses for comment.
Read more: Jhoots: Patients redirected as script numbers plummet
It comes as C+D exclusively revealed last month that locum pharmacists have launched legal action against Jhoots businesses operated by Sarbjit Jhooty and Nilam Patel over almost £1 million in unpaid wages.
It follows extensive C+D reporting on Jhoots pharmacies, including that staff had been unable to “pay for groceries” and had to “hitch rides” to work after their employer failed to pay their wages, while others said they were owed thousands and resorting to food banks.
