London (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Pharmacies across England are incapable of providing vital NHS and public health services owing to the overwhelming economic and operational pressures they are encountering, according to research.
How Have Recent Cuts Affected NHS Services Provided by Pharmacies?
A poll of pharmacy proprietors representing more than 2,100 pharmacies discovered that more than 96% of respondents stated they had stopped delivering locally commissioned services over the past 12 months. These include emergency contraception and products to assist quit smoking. Four in five (81%) of drugstore owners polled stated they have had to cease offering extended opening hours, while 90% have had to prevent employing locum pharmacists owing to the high costs.
How Are Patients and Communities Affected by Reduced Pharmacy Services?
Of the 92 proprietors polled for the representative body Community Pharmacy England, more than one-fifth stated they have had to conclude free delivery of prescription medicines to patients. The research comes as data reveals that almost 1,000 pharmacies in England have shut since 2017, with poorer areas being impacted disproportionately by the closures.
The Pharmacy First scheme was fully established on 1 January this year, with patients in England now presented treatment for seven common conditions including urinary tract infections and shingles by a chemist without having to see a GP.
How Are Pharmacies Managing the Closure of Locations and Service Cuts?
Janet Morrison, chief executive of Community Pharmacy England, stated: “Across England patients and local communities are bearing the price of our collapsing community pharmacy network, as thousands of pharmacies have been renounced with no choice but to reduce the services that they can offer. These are not decisions that any pharmacy wants to make, but with a 30% real-terms funding reduction and spiralling costs, pharmacy owners are having to make impossible decisions to try to keep their doors open.”
Nick Kaye, the chair of the National Pharmacy Association, stated: “The nation’s community pharmacies are under tremendous pressure and are underfunded for their important work on the health service frontline. “This has inevitably resulted in cutbacks such as decreased opening hours and ending free medicines deliveries to housebound patients. Worse still, well over 1,000 pharmacies have been forced to close in the past decade.
What Solutions Are Being Proposed to Address the Pharmacy Funding Crisis?
“The government should be supporting us to reduce GP waiting times, but right now we are going backwards instead of fulfilling our prospect as skilled clinicians.”
He added: “If GPs determine the number of daily appointments, more patients will come to community pharmacies for assistance, but we are not in great condition after years of cuts. Our ability to be an adequate shock absorber for disruption elsewhere in the healthcare design has been eroded and we have deep capacity challenges. We need a new contract for community pharmacies that properly supports our work and allows us to deliver great NHS services.”
What Measures Are Being Taken to Improve Pharmacy Funding and Services?
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson stated: “The NHS is shattered, and pharmacies have been underestimated for too long. This government will shift the emphasis of the NHS out of hospitals and into the community. We will develop the role of pharmacies making better use of pharmacists’ skills, including revving the rollout of independent prescribing and appointing a community pharmacist prescribing service.”