North Lincolnshire Pharmacists face unprecedented pressures
Pharmacists say that because of funding cuts, staff shortages and increased demand, they need the government to take action
A pharmacy in Scunthorpe is highlighting the pressures that the industry faces as inflation, medication shortages and a dwindling workforce are causing more and more of them of them to close.
Between July 2017 and July 2023, the number of operating pharmacies in England fell by 914 from 11,723 to 10,809.
Deprived communities, where the need is greatest, have seen the biggest decline. More than one in ten pharmacies have been lost in the poorest 20% of areas in the last six years.
That accounts for 40% of losses in that period.
Hitesh Patel is the Superintendent Pharmacist at Unity Pharmacy in Scunthorpe, he says the pressures are making things really difficult:
"We all hear about how difficult it is for a GP to cope at the moment, because GPs are struggling with the workload. So community pharmacies are there for a lot of conditions that can be dealt with over the counter.
"But we can't afford to be looking after patients for minor ailments when we are not funded for them."
He added that there are many things affecting the industry:
"So since 2016, pharmacies have been really struggling and the reason that is - is in 2016 there was a £250 million cut and after that massive cut, we haven't had a increase in funding at all. So, if you work it out, it works it out about a 35% real terms cut. No organisation can survive that sort of a cut and that's the key reason why we've had so many pharmacies close.
"Then on top of that, we've got a lot of other issues as well. I can go through the whole list; I think right now we are middle of workforce crisis, especially when it comes to finding pharmacists, then inflation has been going up and recently, obviously it's gone off the charts and you just can't cope with all the costs of running a business. And the other thing is getting a hold of medicine, the prices have gone up and some are even running short on supply."
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said:
"We are carefully monitoring access to pharmaceutical services, but good access remains.
"We have announced £645m in additional funding in the Primary Care Recovery Plan and thousands more training places for pharmacists as part of the Long-Term Workforce Plan, on top of the £2.6bn we provide every year to the sector."