Somerset pharmacist says situation is 'oppressive'

Max Punni said the situation for pharmacists is "oppressive" as they struggle to meet demand

An independent pharmacy owner has said he is "struggling to keep the lights on" while also meeting patient demand.

Max Punni, from Taunton, Somerset, joined other pharmacists to demonstrate outside parliament over closures.

He said they are underfunded and overwhelmed by patients who are being guided to them instead of their GPs.

A Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) spokesperson said a new initiative would free up an anticipated 10 million GP appointments a year.

"We're looking at the collapse of the pharmacy network and frontline primary healthcare services," said Mr Punni, who owns a group of pharmacies in the south west.

"We're struggling to keep the lights on and we're supposed to be in two places at once delivering all these services."

Independent pharmacists want funding to be reviewed so they can stay in business

The Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies (AIMP) claims about one in 10 pharmacies have shut their doors in England since 2015.

They also estimate these closures have led to 2.5 million GP appointments since 2019.

The DHSC spokesperson said: "We do not recognise these figures. We have made up to £645m of new funding available to support the expansion of community pharmacy services, which comes on top of the £2bn pharmacies already receive per year."

'Exhausted, burnt out'

Mr Punni said the closure of two nearby pharmacies left one of his "hit with a tsunami of extra patients and all of this in a climate of severe drug shortages".

He said staff on the frontline are "exhausted, burnt out", adding: "It beggars belief that the government doesn't realise what's actually happening on the frontline."

Mr Punni described an average day as "queues of patients constantly demanding all these additional services that I feel have been dumped on us".

Max Punni said many patients are "oblivious" and "don't really notice there's a problem until their local pharmacy shuts down"

Mr Punni feels the government does not appreciate "what pharmacists actually do".

"I don't know if they think we're just glorified shopkeepers but it seems we're picking up all the pieces."

A DHSC spokesperson said Pharmacy First, which allows pharmacies to prescribe medicines for seven common conditions, had been "widely welcomed by the pharmacy sector and so far, 98% of pharmacies have signed up to deliver it".

"Four in five people live within a 20-minute walk of a pharmacy and there are twice as many pharmacies in deprived areas, making access to care quicker and more convenient," they added.