Plans to open a new pharmacy in a South West London neighbourhood, where two closed last year, have been rejected after 'unforgivable' NHS delays.

Elderly residents in Hampton must travel longer distances or rely on others to pick up their prescription after the Boots pharmacies on Tangley Park Road and Priory Road closed in October and November, which they described as turning the area into a 'ghost town'.

An application to open a new pharmacy at the Tangley Park Road unit was submitted to NHS England on November 16, according to Healthwatch Richmond, and regulations required it to be decided within four months.

But it took nearly eight months for the application to be refused on 7 July, the group said, due to a technicality that should have been spotted months earlier.

Mike Derry, chief officer of Healthwatch Richmond, said: "The applicants were not advised of the issue in a timely manner and thus have not been able to resubmit an application until eight months later.

"Most pressingly however, the residents of Hampton are left without a pharmacy, with no idea of when one will open and without any commitment from officials to address this."

Healthwatch Richmond claimed Boots and the NHS did not tell the Richmond Health and Wellbeing Board the pharmacies were about to close.

Boots has said since that NHS England was informed three months before the stores were due to close.

The Richmond Health and Wellbeing Board published a pharmaceutical needs assessment that wrongly ruled no new pharmacies were needed in Hampton. The Tangley Park Road pharmacy shut on October 21, followed by the Priory Road pharmacy on November 11.

An application for a new pharmacy was submitted on November 16, Healthwatch Richmond said, but they also claimed the NHS failed to tell the board until January 23.

The square at Hampton North, where there was previously a Boots pharmacy (credit: Charlotte Lillywhite).

The application had to reflect the original assessment that did not account for the closures.

The board then published an extra statement expressing the need for a new pharmacy in Hampton on 1 December, following the closures.

But the applicant could not readjust its application as it was not notified, according to Healthwatch Richmond.

The group said the application was ultimately rejected by the pharmacy services regulations committee on 7 July as it did not reflect the extra statement published on 1 December.

A report on the decision said this meant the application could not be considered.

Twickenham MP Munira Wilson slammed the process in Parliament on July 26, after outlining how the closures had put pressure on the nearest remaining pharmacies with queues and stock issues.

Patients now must visit the Boots Pharmacy on Station Approach in Hampton, a 19-minute walk from Tangley Park Road, or the Boots Pharmacy on Bear Road in Hanworth, a 15-minute walk away.

The Lib Dem MP said: "It is… utterly unreasonable that timely applications to open pharmacies in response to multiple closures should be inherently prevented in this way.

"The delays in sharing information with the local health and wellbeing board and the delays in decision making are unforgivable."

Andrew Gwynne, under-secretary for health and social care, said he had asked officials to reconsider Ms Wilson's concerns, but she had received a reply that 'wasn't particularly helpful'.

He said he took the issues seriously and that 'good access to pharmacy services' was important to residents in Hampton and across the country.

It comes after Boots announced in June last year it would close 300 UK stores in close proximity to each other in plans to 'consolidate' the business.

A survey published by Healthwatch Richmond in January found waiting times were worse at the Station Approach pharmacy for 98 per cent of nearly 700 respondents since the closures in Hampton.

29 Tangley Park Road, Hampton, which was previously a Boots pharmacy (credit: Charlotte Lillywhite/LDRS).

A total of 61 per cent of respondents said their travel time had increased by at least 15 minutes.

Residents told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) in May they wanted another pharmacy to open at the Tangley Park Road unit and that the previous closure followed other cuts to vital services in Hampton.

Janet Fawdrey said she had to get a bus to Hanworth to pick up her medication due to the closures.

She said: "When you get a text to say that medication is ready, it's usually a week later. I was running low on one set of tablets and I thought it's a good job it's not life-threatening, but it does cause me problems."

She added: "It's like they're closing us down bit by bit and they're trying to think [we're] not going to notice. Well I blinking well do because my feet are killing me."

Susan Clarke, 72, who had a heart condition, said she was 'disgusted' at the closures.

She told the LDRS: "It was very convenient and it's just not working now. It used to work and now the balance has gone."

Ms Clarke's partner had to travel further to pick up her prescription from the Bear Road pharmacy, which she said could take up to two weeks to arrive.

She said: "They keep me alive and to have to wait a fortnight for them, it's not on."

Her partner added the neighbourhood would become a 'ghost town' if the Sainsbury's next to the old pharmacy shut.

A Boots spokesperson said: "As with any store closure, we informed NHS England three months before these stores were due to close."

An NHS London spokesperson said: "We are aware of the concerns raised by Healthwatch Richmond and acknowledge the points they raise about the provision of pharmacy services in south west London.

"All applications go through standardised processes for consideration by the London-wide pharmacy services regulations committee.

"The decision to refuse this latest application is now subject to the appeals process. As this appeal is currently underway we are unable to comment further at this time."