IN business, we sometimes hear the adage ‘the customer is always right.’

And in my view, we’d do well to apply some of that thinking more often in politics, where the local people we serve really do know best about what decisions are right for their communities.

Yet, all too often, I see decisions made ‘to’ people rather than with them.

Only recently, two applications to build a new pharmacies in St Austell were turned down by an NHS committee. One centre, close to the site of a former Boots pharmacy on Polkyth Parade, was turned down because it did not evidence a need. Another application was not granted because it did not identify a potential benefit.

Anyone who needs to collect prescriptions from one of the four existing pharmacies in St Austell will tell you that this assessment, from the South West Pharmaceutical Services Regulations Committee, (PSRC) is out of step with their reality.

So, I have joined St Austell town councillor Jeremy Preece in asking local people to have their say at survey.labour.org.uk/staustellpharmacy

I've received a large amount of correspondence from constituents who are struggling with ordering and collecting pharmaceutical items. Key complaints include queues of up to an hour waiting to be served, and then when people do reach the front of the line, medicines are unavailable. Orders are sometimes incomplete - requiring customers to make return visits to the pharmacy.

Not to mention the anxiety of nearly running out of medication, the risk of older people waiting in the cold, and the hassle of busy people having to sacrifice hours in their day to complete basic ‘life admin’ tasks.

This is why we should never be blindsided into just ‘working from criteria.’ If public feedback isn’t reflected in decisions, maybe we’re asking the wrong questions. This is for patients, after all.

Since October last year, St Austell Town Council and I have supported the idea of a new pharmacy.

There’s another long-term risk. When an application for a pharmacy is refused, it is sometimes not possible to make a new application within five years save in the case of an “exceptional” change.

This Government has set out plans to build 1.5-million homes across the UK to tackle the housing crisis – and I hear loud and clear my constituents’ concerns about a lack of supporting infrastructure. Surely it would be sensible to work proactively – addressing not only the current challenges, but also securing provision for the long term.

This is something of a ‘last ditch’ attempt to support constituents, by championing the use of pharmacies. Planned NHS reforms should also help redress the shabby pharmaceutical contract left by the previous government.

Everyone recognises that pharmacy staff are working flat out to cope.

Maybe the best response is to give local people what they want – because patients are often right, as well as customers.

Noah Law, Labour MP for St Austell and Newquay