Pharmacists risking homes to stay in business

Eight pharmacies have closed in Oxfordshire between 2023 and 2025

Pharmacists are calling on the government for an urgent injection of funds, with claims that some are having to re-mortgage their homes and cash in their pensions to stay open.

Eight pharmacies have closed in Oxfordshire between 2023 and 2025 and according to the National Pharmacy Association (NPA), 63% of pharmacies in England are at risk of closure over the next year.

The government says community pharmacists are at the heart of local healthcare and it wants them "to play a bigger role" as they move care out of hospitals under the NHS 10 year plan.

But with an estimated £2.6bn funding gap, there are concerns from pharmacists in Oxfordshire that the service won't be able cope.

Jay Chiha is manager and part owner of Day Lewis Pharmacy in Didcot and has seen the service change. Mr Chiha said, "Year on year we've seen more pressures, funding issues, where a lot of pharmacies have to think outside the box to make ends meet."

"After COVID there are extra cuts to funding that we're experiencing and for a lot of pharmacies it is very easy to make a loss if it's not run in the correct way."

Jay is the manager and co-owner of Day Lewis Pharmacy in Didcot.

Around 95% of services that are offered by smaller pharmacies are funded by the NHS.

Larger pharmacies can offer private services to boost their income but for independent pharmacies, high inflation costs and delayed payments from the NHS, has led to some owners needing to cover the costs with their own private funds.

Andrew Lane is an Oxfordshire based pharmacist and former chair of the NPA and said, "Some of my colleagues are having to re-mortgage their homes, cash in their pensions, which should not be the situation in business which is primarily an NHS business."

The sector received an additional £5.1bn in the spring, but with increases to employer National Insurance contributions and higher running costs, the NPA believes an additional £2.6bn is needed to ensure the sector's survival.

Oxfordshire pharmacist, Andrew Lane, says he knows colleagues who have needed to re-mortgage their homes to keep their pharmacies open.

Mr Lane said, "The solution is to get the money to the front line.

"Staff have left us because they can go and get a job in some of the supermarkets, paying the same rates as we can afford to pay them.

"We want to take those staff back. We can only take them back if we have the funding to do it."

The Department for Health and Social Care said, "Community pharmacists are at the heart of local healthcare and we're working to turn around a decade of underfunding and neglect that has left the sector on the brink of collapse – including by giving the sector a funding boost of almost £500m this year.

"We want them to play a bigger role as we shift care out of hospitals and into the community through our Plan for Change, and this year we gave community pharmacies a bigger funding boost than any other area of the NHS."