'Shocking' pharmacy chain should be shut down - MP

A pharmacy chain has serious questions to answer over allegations of financial mismanagement, according to MP Sadik Al Hassan.

Staff at Jhoots Pharmacies run by Sarbjit Jhooty are owed £670,000 in unpaid wages, according to union Pharmacists Defence Association. There are about 150 Jhoots Pharmacies across the UK, of which 129 are run by Sarbjit.

Mr Al Hassan said the situation was "shocking", with patients left struggling to get prescriptions as Jhoots branches were regularly and unexpectedly closed, or open with low stock.

Sarbjit said he was working to return things to normal "as swiftly as possible" while NHS representatives said they were working to resolve issues.

The Pharmacists Defence Association said the £670,000 unpaid wage bill related to locum staff who worked for Jhoots branches across the UK.

Unlike permanent employees, locum staff operate in a freelance capacity and usually provide short-term cover.

One former Jhoots worker claims to be owned several thousand pounds after working at a branch in Somerset.

She asked to be kept anonymous, fearing speaking publicly may impact her claim for payment, and said: "[In] January they just seemed to stop paying us."

She said she spoke to Sarbjit about the issues, and he referred her to HR. However, her emails to the department went unanswered.

"It's been horrendous," she said. "We've all fallen behind with all our bills, people have mortgages, car payments to pay.

"It's affected us greatly, even down to being able to send my child to school with a packed lunch for the day. I wasn't able to provide at points, having to borrow money off family members.

"It's affected my mental health quite heavily."

She said issues at the pharmacy also meant staff had to deal with "angry customers".

"They weren't getting their medication," she explained. "Or they were being promised it and then it was being given to other patients, so then we were having to reorder the stock. It wasn't pleasant."

In Wiltshire, Swindon South MP Heidi Alexander is promoting a petition calling on Jhoots' bosses to act after a branch in the town had regularly been closed.

She said there had been "repeated closures, no pharmacists, unanswered calls, empty shelves".

"This isn't just inconvenient. When people are unwell, it's unsafe," she added.

Residents in Portishead have also seen a "massive decline" in the availability of pharmacy services, according to Mr Al Hassan.

The North Somerset MP, who used to be a pharmacist, said the situation was "unacceptable".

"Jhoots are unreliably open, they don't necessarily have common items of stock available for prescriptions and now one of them [in Portishead], on the Thursday before the last bank holiday, shuttered their doors and never reopened," he added.