NHS Boss Gives Update On "Shocking" Recent Spate Of Pharmacy Break-Ins

A “shocking” recent spate of Isle of Wight pharmacy burglaries created “great concern” for contractors and the public, an NHS boss has told councillors.

NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight director of primary care and local care James Roach gave an update on the situation to the adult social care, public health and housing needs committee last week (December 18).

He said the number of incidents, which have affected branches in Ryde and Newport, was more than what would be considered normal.

“With the support of Kate Harvey (Isle of Wight Council public health director) and her team and the commander (Andy McDonald of Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary (HIWC) and some of the other public services on the Island, we were able to put in place a plan,” Mr Roach said.

“That plan was about assurance…one of the things we were able to do after the advice of the commander, and the safety team was identify what changes needed to be made to those pharmacies to make them more secure.

“We’ve agreed a number of changes that need to be made to those pharmacies to prevent future break ins, and we’ve agreed to fund that on a one-off basis.

“It’s a good example of where we’ve worked in partnership with public health of the council and other public services on the Island in terms of addressing what’s been quite a shocking issue.”

Andy McDonald, chief inspector at HIWC, told the council chamber:

“A partnership response was stood up really quickly, some really honest conversations were had.

“It’s about community need – the impact of pharmacies being shut for periods of time across the Isle of Wight is significant – but from a partnership perspective we put a quick time response into that need at that moment.”