In My View with Hassan Riaz

Last month, three major pharmacy chains announced closures across the U.K. Lloyds Pharmacy announced it was set to shut all 237 pharmacy branches within Sainsbury’s supermarkets. Tesco announced the closure of 8 pharmacies,and ASDA proposed closing 7 of its pharmacy branches.

NHS data revealed that we currently have the lowest number of community pharmacies in seven years. Incidentally over the same period, community pharmacies have had their funding cut by 30 per cent. Soaring drug costs in recent months have forced thousands of pharmacies to pay substantially more for an array of essential medicines, in comparison to the amount which they are reimbursed by the Government. Essential medicines like antibiotics, paracetamol and ibuprofen, have all inflated in price over the past few months, whilst the reimbursement price is much lower.

Over 40 per cent of all permanent pharmacy closures in England took place in the 20 per cent most deprived areas nationally, with 63 per cent of those occurring in the Northwest, West Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber, according to new analysis by the Company Chemist’s Association (CCA).

The CCA analysed NHS data of pharmacy closures and found 670 community pharmacies had been lost between 2015 and 2022 in England, with 808 closing permanently and only 138 opening.

In community pharmacy, we safely dispense thousands of medicines each week, ensuring patient safety and minimising the risks associated with adverse drug reactions and side effects. We counsel and prescribe medicines every day to patients needing treatment and advice on common minor illnesses. We safely administer covid vaccines, flu vaccines and travel vaccines. We run weight management clinics, hypertension clinics, and stop smoking services. We offer needle exchange programmes, opioid addiction treatment, EHC and sexual health advice. We help with the safe disposal of unwanted medicines, free delivery of medicines, and ensure ease in taking medicines with monitored dosage systems and blister packs.

Reduced accessibility to community pharmacies in the north of England, will certainly impede the Governments plans in levelling up. It also means, less healthcare accessibility in deprived areas, adding greater pressure to the NHS in reducing health inequalities. The NHS is already undergoing a crisis, and community pharmacy is perfectly placed to help lessen the burden on GPs, A&E departments, and improve health outcomes in local communities. In order to do this, there must be greater funding for community pharmacies. It’s a sector, which many will tell you, is at crisis point. Without greater funding, the threat is real, tens of thousands of Britons will be without a community pharmacy. Community pharmacies are more than just bricks and mortar, they are the fabric of our community.