Pharmacy owners who want to relocate their business should think carefully about how different patient groups will be affected by the move, a pharmacy lawyer has told C+D.

NHS England rejected Community Pharmacies (UK) Limited’s application to relocate a Superdrug pharmacy, following a high court appeal on July 1.

The decision was made partly on the grounds that women who wanted to access the emergency hormonal contraception (EHC) service would find the pharmacy “significantly less accessible” if it was relocated.

Conor Daly, partner at consultancy firm Rushport Advisory – which was instructed by Community Pharmacies (UK) Limited in the case – said it was the first judicial review of the rules that govern the relocations of pharmacies in England.

The judge upheld a previous ruling made in May 2015, which said patients might be deterred from accessing the pharmacy in its new location because the move would mean patients would have to leave the shopping centre during “inclement weather”.

Some patients would have to walk past a homeless shelter, where people might be suffering from drug and alcohol problems or engaging in “antisocial behaviour and begging”, on the way to the relocated pharmacy, the court noted.

NHS England’s original decision was upheld because, although it had “slender material” for concluding that women seeking

EHC services would find the pharmacy’s new premises inaccessible, the judge decided that the initial decision “fell short of being perverse”.

The outcome means that owners who want to relocate their premises will now have to give “specific thought” about how the move will affect different patient groups, “almost irrespective of their size”, Mr Daly told C+D.

An application to relocate a pharmacy could be rejected even if only one small patient group would find the pharmacy’s new site “significantly less accessible”, he said.

Those thinking of relocating their pharmacy should also ensure that the same pharmaceutical services are provided in the pharmacy’s new site and that there is no interruption to services unless permission is granted by the NHS, Mr Daly advised.