For the first time in over 100 years, the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) is encouraging pharmacies to limit their services. As the financial year comes to a close, there has been no confirmation of new funding for pharmacies despite rising costs, leading the NPA to prompt pharmacies to start cutting their opening hours and some services. Starting in April, some are set to close on evenings and weekends, and also see a reduction in services such as home deliveries to keep pharmacies open for the long-term.
‘We are advising our members to reduce their pharmacy opening hours or take other steps to limit costs in the short term, in order to safeguard patient services for the long term,’ NPA Chair, Nick Kaye said. ‘It is better that we temporarily reduce access in the short term than to let pharmacies collapse altogether under the weight of unsustainable operating costs.’
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This comes on top of an already declining pharmacy budget. The overwhelming majority of funding for pharmacies comes from the NHS, which covers medicine dispensing as well as vaccinations. However, the NPA claims that the budget had already been cut by 40% since 2017 in real terms, seeing 1,300 pharmacies shut since then. The reduction of services and opening hours act as a measure to provide safe service to patients while also adapting to the cost pressures, until a financial agreement has been reached.
‘Pharmacies have shut in record numbers and those that are left are hanging on by their fingernails waiting for the delivery of a financial settlement that protects services on which millions of people rely,’ Kaye said. ‘We hope that an offer from the government emerges by April 1 to cover the additional costs which pharmacies will face and start to plug the huge gap in funding created by 10 years of real terms cuts.’
However, the reduced services are alleged to possibly hinder progress. Pharmacies have been highlighted by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) as being vital for the Government’s Plans for Change, as it aims to shift care from hospitals to community. The limited services and opening times have been claimed to potentially ’cause unnecessary disruption for patients,’ a DHSC official said. ‘We urge them to reconsider.’