Pharmacists warn of struggle to 'keep the lights on'

The National Pharmacy Association said about 90% of council areas had seen at least one pharmacy close in the last three years

Pharmacists have warned they are struggling to "keep the lights on", as national analysis found England's network was at its smallest for 20 years due to closures.

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) said about 90% of council areas had seen at least one pharmacy close in the last three years.

Liverpool was the worst-affected area, followed by York, with cities including Wakefield and Hull also in the top 10, the NPA said.

Ashley Cohen, who runs pharmacies in Leeds and York and is a board member of the NPA, said the "most deprived" areas had seen the biggest impact, which was "hitting every community and every geography quite hard."

"It just makes it more difficult for communities and patients, certainly those in hard-to-reach communities, to get good solid pharmacy advice and timely medicines that they need," he said.

"For those in highly deprived areas and those with health inequalities, it means they sometimes forego healthcare advice or accessing treatment."

He added that there was a misconception about how pharmacies were funded, with about 95% of their income coming from the government.

"We rely on an NHS contract," he said.

"If there's a squeeze on that contract, those in the more deprived areas aren't able to upskill and upscale with more private services, so they're more at risk of collapse and closure.

"Other pharmacists in more affluent areas may be adding more travel vaccines, weight loss services and other private services that can help and support that."

'It feels really awful'

Vikki Furneaux has been running Monkbar Pharmacy in York, the second worst-affected council area in England, since 2018.

She said a recent pharmaceutical needs assessment found residents were "really struggling for access to pharmacies" in some areas.

There was a "huge spike in calls" every time a nearby pharmacy closed, she added.

"Hundreds a day, which we were unable to keep up with.

"We knew we were missing some really important phone calls from some of our most vulnerable patients."

As a result, changes have been made including a new phone system and charging some customers for deliveries.

"It feels really awful," Ms Furneaux said.

"It does disproportionately affect those most vulnerable people and those who need us the most."

Vikki Furneaux said it felt "awful" seeing customers queueing and charging for deliveries

The NPA said the sector needed an urgent funding uplift to avoid the NHS's Ten Year Plan "failing before it has even begun".

Mr Cohen, who is on the local pharmaceutical committees for North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, said pharmacists wanted to help but were "struggling" because of a lack of "stability".

"We're treading water just to keep our doors and lights on," he said.

He welcomed an increase in funding received by the sector earlier this year, but said it followed a decade of underfunding.

Ms Furneaux added: "We could do a lot more if we were able to pay our staff what they deserve and get more teams in.

"We can do it, we just need to not be always trying to desperately balance the books and shave off small amounts of efficiencies here and there."

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "Community pharmacists are at the heart of local healthcare and through our 10 Year Health Plan, we will ensure they play an even greater role as we bring more care out of hospitals and closer to where people live.

"This year we've increased funding to community pharmacies by 19% to almost £3.1b - the largest uplift in funding for any part of the NHS - so our dedicated pharmacists can provide easy access to high-quality care to all."

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