Patients are being left stranded without access to medicine as pharmacies close in isolated areas, The i Paper can reveal.
Dozens of pharmacies earmarked by the Government as vital to their communities have shut their doors in the past two years, according to the National Pharmacy Association (NPA).
At least 58 specially protected pharmacies have closed since 2022 amid a lack of government funding, the trade body’s analysis of the national register of pharmacies found.
These pharmacies were identified as being in areas where people do not have ready access to medication and where deprivation levels are significantly higher than average.
The Government sets aside £20m a year for a scheme to subsidise these pharmacies but the NPA – which represents independent pharmacies across the UK – said the funding does not go far enough to compensate for a decade of budget cuts.
Community pharmacies receive around 90 per cent of their income from the NHS.
The NPA warned that patients were being left travelling long distances for vital medication or advice.
Patients who used to be served by Wheaton Aston Pharmacy in Stafford now have a nearly 6 mile journey to get to a pharmacy.
Those who previously went to Bishop’s Lydeard Pharmacy, Somerset, now have to travel four miles – or a 30 minute bus journey – to get to their nearest pharmacy.
More than 1,250 pharmacies in England have been forced to close in the past decade, leaving some areas at risk of becoming “pharmacy deserts”, the NPA said.
Sian Retallick, managing director at Poolearth Healthcare, which runs pharmacies in Plymouth, said they have received a “massive influx” of new patients because of closures.
Plymouth has had the highest rate of pharmacy closures in the country in the last two years.
Ms Retallick said: “The pharmacies having to cope with all the extra people and demand for supply and advice meant that the existing customers were becoming frustrated as the turnaround for people to have their medication or for advice was delayed. It had an enormous impact.”
She said a shortage of GP appointments has also meant that residents are increasingly relying on pharmacists for additional advice, which has increased their workload.
Ms Retallick said she was worried about the impact of national insurance rises next April, which are expected to pile further pressure on the sector.
NPA chair Nick Kaye said: “It’s horrifying that so many of the pharmacies singled out by the government as in need of special support to protect their communities are now shut for good.
“This analysis just shows the potentially devastating impact on patients if they lose their local pharmacy to chronic underfunding that has cut a swathe through local health services in the past 10 years.
“Pharmacies are a haven of invaluable health advice, medicine supplies and local expertise upon which millions of people rely but are still closing at an alarming rate.”
He called on the Government to provide emergency funding to stop the closures and “unleash the power of the pharmacy network to drive care in our communities”.
Last year, NHS England spent £250,000 to evaluate clinical services provided by community pharmacies, in advance of the next community pharmacy contract. The evaluation will be used to help NHS England “make effective decisions regarding clinical services for the future community pharmacy sector”.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Community pharmacy has a vital role to play as we shift the focus of the NHS out of hospitals and into the community, through our 10 Year Health Plan.
“Unfortunately, we inherited a system that has been neglected for too long and isn’t supporting the pharmacists we need to deliver for patients at a local level. We will work with the sector, making better use of the skills of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, to build a service fit for the future.”
