PROBLEMS suffered by pharmacies were highlighted by West Somerset MP Rachel Gilmour when she called on the Government to close a £2 billion pharmacies funding gap during a Westminster Hall debate she led last week.

Ms Gilmour raised the loss of a pharmacy in Bishops Lydeard, replaced by a dispensary open only to patients of the Quantock Vale surgery, and a similar situation which occurred in Norton Fitzwarren.

She said that Jhoots, the previous provider of pharmacy services in Williton and Minehead, had operated poorly for some time.

Having raised the issue in Parliament, Ms Gilmour welcomed Allied Pharmacies' takeover of the two sites.

She said: “Services have since improved markedly.

“That is a testament to what good management and proper investment can achieve.”