AN Oxford pharmacist is frustrated that he cannot get his license to provide NHS prescriptions, and pharmacy chain Boots has opposed his application.

After moving from department store Boswells which closed last year, Adil Cowan, who runs Cowan’s Pharmacy in St Michael’s Street, must seek new permission from NHS England to provide NHS services.

But getting the green light for the permit has proven a complex process because it needs approval from the NHS – which is also required to ask any existing nearby pharmacies and interested parties to have their say.

The NHS refused Mr Cowan's application and Boots, which has a branch close to his pharmacy, said the application ‘did not meet the requirements of the regulations’.

However Mr Cowan believes his competitors do not care about what patients need and are instead more concerned about him taking their customers.

He said: “My philosophy has always been ‘patients come first’. The system should not ask pharmacists because nine times out of ten they’re going to think of their own pockets, and this is part of a huge problem in all of this.

“If Boswells was open and I opened here, then yes, I’ve got to go through the hoops because that’s an extra pharmacy. To me, they (NHS England) should write to all the relevant surgeries and put a few adverts in the local paper saying residents have two months to respond.

“That way people have a choice. It should be based on what people want and what people need, not what somebody assumes people need.”

Because Mr Cowan does not have a permit, he says he has not been able to provide free Covid lateral flow tests throughout the pandemic like other chemists.

He has had six GP surgeries back his appeals application and a petition has also been set up by neighbouring bookshop Arcadia which has gained around 40 signatures of support so far.

Mr Cowan, who has 50 years of pharmacy experience, added: “I’ve had so many patient surgeries coming to me saying, ‘I’ve got a queue of people waiting to come to you’. I care about people, that’s my priority, and I will do whatever I can to help them.”

A spokesperson from Boots UK said: “We felt that the application did not meet the requirements of the regulations and fed this back to NHS England in our response to them.”

Rowlands Pharmacy, which Mr Cowan says is also against his application, was contacted for comment but failed to respond.

An NHS England and NHS Improvement South East spokesperson said: “For pharmacy applications, there is a requirement for consultation with interested parties, however the key part of consideration for an application is whether it meets the specifications set out in the regulations.”