Exclusive:
Pharmacies in some of Britain’s most deprived areas are closing down or cutting opening hours due to lack of funding, despite the government pushing for chemists to share some load with GPs
More and more chemists are shutting for good or drastically cutting opening hours, a report reveals.
Figures show at least 1,200 in England closed from September 2022 to June this year because of lack of funding while others cut their opening times.
Total hours open reduced by 11% and there was a 5% drop in pharmacies, equivalent to 3.4 million fewer hours of access a year. Malcolm Harrison, chief of the The Company Chemists’ Association, which did the report, said: “Without action more will either close or be forced to further reduce hours. After a decade with no funding increase, they need money just to survive.”
It comes as the Government urges chemists to help overstretched GPs. But the CCA found patients report not being able to access medicines. And chemists in the 20% most deprived communities cut hours 3.6 times more than the 20% least deprived, as chemists in wealthier areas subsidise losses on NHS services with private ones.
Nine of the 10 NHS Integrated Care Boards with the biggest drop in hours were in the Midlands or North. In 2015/16 the core NHS pharmacy contract was £2.8billion a year. It is now £2.6bn and the CCA says if it had grown at the rate of GDP it would be £3.6bn.
The Department of Health said: “This government inherited a broken NHS where pharmacies have been neglected.
“We are committed to supporting community pharmacists, which have a vital role as we shift the focus of care out of hospitals and into the community.”
