PATIENTS in Newton Abbot have been forced to find a new supplier for medication after the sudden closure of a pharmacy.

JHoots Pharmacy in East Street had been used by many patients of Albany Surgery but they were informed by the surgery of the closure and advised to change their nominated pharmacy for prescriptions.

One former customer complained the pharmacy was ‘awful, never any stock and no care for customers’.

Another said: ‘I had issues as soon as JHoots took over so changed my nominated pharmacy to elsewhere.’

Others said the closure was ‘inevitable’ considering the recent reports the company was facing financial difficulties and allegations staff have not been paid for several months.

Newton Abbot MP Martin Wrigley has written to the Minister of State for Care asking questions about safeguarding for patients following concerns from local GPs.

He said: ‘Following the news last week that several pharmacies operating under the Jhoots name are calling in the administrators, I have written to the Minister of State for Care Stephen Kinnock to ask some questions about safeguards for patients in our constituency that have been relayed to me by GPs.

‘It is unacceptable that vulnerable patients could be left without the vital medications they need.

‘I also highlighted the need for stricter oversight of contractual and financial assurance processes when pharmacies are given NHS contracts.

‘And I highlighted the disruption to patient care particularly for older, vulnerable and housebound individuals who rely on the pharmacy for repeat prescriptions and medication delivery.’

Sarbjit Singh Jhooty, acquisitions director at JHoots, was approached by the Mid Devon Advertiser for a comment.

Last month, he spoke to The Pharmaceutical Journal saying he was ‘selling and remortgaging’ his pharmacy stores as it is ‘the only way’ he can pay staff wages.

He also said he is ‘working with the NHS’ to resolve all matters.

The East Street pharmacy was previously operated by Superdrug and JHoots took over the pharmacy licence in the summer of 2024.

One former Superdrug employee said: ‘It was such a shock and very upsetting for us as a team to receive the news that day in July 2024 that Superdrug had sold the license to J Hoots.

‘We all knew that things would change.’

Another said: ‘I feel sad that this has happened.

‘When JHoots took over in May it literally changed overnight.’

The closure of JHoots is part of a wider concern over NHS funding for pharmacies.

The Pharmacy Journal said: ‘Several pharmacists suggested that while Jhoots is an isolated incident, more and more community pharmacies were struggling to make ends meet.’

Concerns over JHoots performance have been raised in Parliament with the Prime Minister saying it was

‘simply unacceptable that customers and staff have been so badly let down’.

He said: ‘Officials are currently reviewing whether the integrated care boards and General Pharmaceutical Council need additional powers to address pharmacy businesses that do not play by the rules … that could include powers for the council to go after business owners in addition to the pharmacy professionals.’