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Portishead Medical Group has told Jhoots to leave the building next to the practice by the end of this month after patients became “disillusioned” with the quality of the pharmacy’s service.

In a statement posted on Facebook, the Group said it decided to serve notice on Jhoots to vacate the building after discussing various problems with the Labour MP for North Somerset Sadik Al-Hassan, including the lack of a pharmacist at the branch, its inability to supply medicines to patients and “ad hoc closures on an increasing basis”.

The Group also said it spoke to Gordano Valley primary care network and “local NHS providers” before making its decision.

Al-Hassan recently told Independent Community Pharmacist he would meet representatives from Jhoots this month after receiving complaints from patients about its service.

Jhoots took over the running of the branch in 2023 after the closure of a LloydsPharmacy and Portishead Medical Group said it has been “regular discussions” with Jhoots since then about “the terms on which they provide pharmacy services to patients”.

“We have had concerns over a near constant problem with the lack of a trained pharmacist with an NHS smart card, lack of medications to issue and ad hoc closures on an increasing basis,” the Group said.

“This has led to patients being disillusioned with the service and a lot of duplicate work for us as patients seek to have duplicate prescriptions issued.” ICP has contacted Jhoots for a response.

Portishead Medical Group said it would try to “get a pharmacy in the premises who can provide a high quality service covering the basics of prescription issue but also other services such as Pharmacy First.”

The Group added: “We believe it is the right decision to best support our patients going forward, with the continued care of our patients our top priority.”