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The Company Chemists' Association (CCA)'s research has found that between 2015 and 2022 more than 40 per cent of permanent community pharmacy closures took place in the 20 per cent most deprived parts of England. The association has analysed the NHS data and found that between 2015 and 2022, 808 pharmacies closed permanently in England. In that period, only 138 new pharmacies opened - a net loss of 670 community pharmacies. It also examined where permanent closures had taken place. "41% of net permanent closures had taken place in the top 20% most deprived areas in England. Meanwhile, only 9% of net permanent closures took place in the top 20% least deprived areas." Although the latest figures for 2021/22 suggest that the overall rate of closures may be slowing down, the proportion of pharmacies permanently shutting in more deprived areas has only increased. An even larger share of pharmacies that permanently shut in 2021/22 occurred in the most deprived areas compared with the previous fiscal year: 44% of net closures took place within the bottom two IMD deciles.

The Pharmaceutical Defence Association (PDA) has urged health ministers of the UK to take a strict and necessary action against the unnecessary closures of pharmacy. Concerned over the rising number of pharmacy closures, PDA has written an open letter to health secretary Steve Barclay; Robin Swann, health minister for Northern Ireland; Eluned Morgan, minister of health and social services for Wales; and Humza Yousaf, the Scottish health secretary. In its letter, PDA said: "The minister of health must now ensure the regulation of poor business behaviours and be prepared to take over rogue pharmacies, however large their corporate owner may be. If patients' access to NHS services is to be protected from the consequences of avoidable full or part-day pharmacy closures." The association believes it is only a matter of time before serious harm to patients' health will be caused by the decisions of mainly large chains of pharmacies to close some of their branches for all or part of a day, instead of engaging an available pharmacist to cover their agreed opening hours. "While a small number of unforeseen closures have always occurred from time to time in pharmacies for genuine reasons, the indiscriminate scale at which closures have now become commonplace seems to have evolved over the last 20 months."

Two dozen parliamentarians from across the political spectrum have called on the prime minister to act as a wave of pharmacy closures in recent years has threatened to spiral out of control. A letter to the prime minister signed by 24 MPs and peers has warned that worse could be yet to come after "spiralling business costs" and "year after year of real terms funding cuts" have led to hundreds of pharmacy closures. New data from the PSNC shows that over 639 local pharmacies have been lost in England since 2016. "This is the equivalent to just short of one pharmacy closure per constituency", the cross-party group warned. The letter comes as MPs came together at a parliamentary summit to call for pharmacies to be embraced as a "game-changer" for tackling healthcare backlogs and taking pressure off other areas of the NHS. A 'Future of Pharmacy' event was attended by 53 parliamentarians on July 5 in the Palace of Westminster. At the event parliamentarians heard directly from frontline pharmacists and representatives of pharmacy bodies where a map of constituency-specific pharmacy numbers was also unveiled, with details of the number of pharmacy closures in MPs' local area.

The Pharmacists' Defence Association has called on the Scottish government to end unnecessary pharmacy closures and introduce emergency regulations to force companies that operate Scotland's pharmacies to open on the days and hours they have agreed. It is concerned that decisions made by some health boards in Scotland have now allowed pharmacy owners to close their pharmacies on Saturdays. The PDA is worried that a pharmacy closure could have negative impact on patients and other parts of the NHS, including neighbouring pharmacies, addiction and mental health services, and minor injury and A&E units. The association claims that there are record numbers of registered pharmacists who are available to work and therefore a decision to close a pharmacy over staff shortages is misleading. "The business owners may claim there is a shortage of pharmacists, but when they actively cancel agreed hours of work it does not suggest there is a shortfall of workers," said the PDA, adding: "These business decisions often include closing their pharmacies at very short notice, even when pharmacists are available and willing to work."

The Company Chemists' Association (CCA)'s analysis on permanent closures of community pharmacies in England showed that there has been a net loss of 670 pharmacies between 2015 and 2022. The analysis highlighted that 37 per cent of permanent closures of pharmacies and GP practices have occurred in the 20 per cent most deprived parts of England. Current trends indicate that primary care 'cold spots' could soon emerge - areas where there is significantly reduced or inadequate access to a pharmacy or a GP. The CCA's analysis shows that some of the most deprived neighbourhoods concentrated in the North West, the West Midlands and Yorkshire have faced the highest losses of local pharmacies and GP practices since 2015. It demonstrates that the trend of permanent closures amongst pharmacies and GP practices is worsening. Moreover, this burden is likely to be felt unevenly with permanent closures occurring disproportionately in areas of high deprivation. Without action, deprived communities, where need is typically greater, may no longer be able to access the GP and pharmacy services they require.

A winter NHS crisis is inevitable unless the government acts now to reverse the worrying decline in community pharmacies. Years of government underfunding could see 3,000 pharmacies in England - around a third of the network - having no option but to shut their doors to patients in the next few years. That figure is based on independent assessments from Ernst & Young and UCL/LSE healthcare professors: it is not scaremongering - it is the reality the country faces. Fifty per cent of pharmacies are already in financial distress because government funding has been falling in real terms since 2019 and that figure is predicted to rise to 75 per cent within the next two years. The government needs to act now and invest in pharmacy or sleepwalk into a healthcare disaster as we have seen with access to dentistry care. Prescription volumes have risen consistently year-on-year by roughly 2 per cent which means fewer pharmacies doing more work and under greater pressure than a decade ago. Ten years ago around 11,200 pharmacies in England were dispensing roughly 79,000 prescriptions; nowadays around 11,500 are dispensing roughly 89,000 prescriptions. The secretary of state recently asked pharmacy to do more to avoid a winter NHS crisis and at the same time said there will be no new money to pay for those additional services. This at a time when the network is in decline with random unplanned pharmacy closures - 640 closures since 2016 - and pharmacy staff face huge workload pressures as prescription demand is increasing year-on-year. The government's approach to pharmacy literally does not add up: the pharmacy contract is not fit-for-purpose now let alone dealing with a NHS winter crisis.

The trade bodies and four largest pharmacy chains in England, have jointly written to the Secretary of State for Health, Steve Barclay, warning that the sector needs urgent investment for sustainability. The letter from AIMp, CCA, NPA, PSNC, Boots UK, Lloyds Pharmacy, Well, and Phoenix UK, warned that the 30 per cent real terms funding cuts that pharmacies have faced over the past seven years have left many businesses in a cashflow crisis. The letter said that the government is facing a choice over the future of the country's 11,000+ community pharmacies, with permanent closures likely and medicines supply at risk if no urgent action is taken. "If the funding situation is not addressed, the sector is likely to move rapidly towards many permanent closures of pharmacies." The organisations say that once these closures start, they will be hard to stop, as the sector is now so fragile other pharmacies would struggle to pick up the slack.

All pharmacy businesses are reporting that they are struggling to find the registered professionals needed to open their pharmacies, clarified the Company Chemists' Association (CCA) in response to an attack by the Pharmacists' Defence Association. Last week, PDA allegedly accused some large pharmacy chains of 'orchestrating' full or part-time closures of some of their shops due to the staff shortage. In its Open Letter published on Tuesday (July 19), PDA demanded urgent action "to protect patients by ensuring that essential community pharmacy services are provided safely and consistently". "All parts of the healthcare system are struggling to recruit staff and to assume that pharmacies would be immune to such pressures, seems fanciful," said CCA. "CCA members are working extraordinarily hard to prevent temporary closures, but recruitment and retention of pharmacists is becoming increasingly tough. The recent rise in Covid cases and the beginning of the summer holiday season in parts of the UK have only worsened the situation." The Association also showed data from the PSNC Pharmacy Pressures Survey (April 2022) which found that 91 per cent of pharmacies are experiencing staff shortages, clearly demonstrating that these shortages are affecting the entire sector.

Boots has welcomed job applications from LloydsPharmacy staff impacted by the news of closure of all its branches located in Sainsbury's before the end of 2023. The company is recruiting for more than 1,500 pharmacy roles nationwide. Vacancies span pharmacy roles at all levels - from Pharmacy Advisors (Dispensers) and Trainee Pharmacists to experienced Pharmacists looking to develop their careers. Sebastian James, Managing Director of Boots UK & ROI, said: "Pharmacies deliver vital healthcare in the heart of communities. News of the closure of LloydsPharmacy branches within Sainsbury's stores will no doubt have an impact on many talented pharmacists as well as their patients. "We have many roles available at Boots and welcome applications from LloydsPharmacy employees affected by the closures. Patients who are worried about their future pharmacy provision can check our store locator online to find out where their nearest Boots store is - our pharmacy team members are ready to help." There are over 2,200 Boots stores across the UK and 85% of the population live within 10 minutes of a Boots store.

In its response to a Freedom of Information Request (FOI), the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) has confirmed a net decrease of 101 pharmacies in England - with 371 closures and 270 new contracts. Meanwhile, the General Pharmaceutical Council data projected a drop of 43 registered pharmacies in England, Wales, and Scotland for the year ending March 31, 2023, compared to the preceding period. The data, released by business advisor Christie & Co in its annual pharmacy market review on Sept. 5, revealed a total of 14,328 pharmacies across all four UK country regions as of March 31, 2023, indicating a 0.3 per cent decrease from the previous year. Corporate operators experienced a net reduction of 249 pharmacies, while the total number of independent operators remained consistent with 2022. According to the study, the corporate sector saw the most substantial shift, with a 13.7 per cent reduction in businesses operating 300 or more pharmacies. Following closely, groups managing 11 to 15 pharmacies experienced a 5.6 per cent decrease. Christie & Co attributed this shift in group size to operators acquiring additional pharmacies through corporate disposal opportunities throughout the year.

A new report commissioned by the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has revealed harsh financial realities faced by community pharmacies in England. The report by Professor David Taylor of University College London warned that 1000s of community pharmacy closure might take place by 2024 in England if the sector was not supported with additional funds. At the launch of the report titled 'Protecting UK Public Interests in NHS Community Pharmacy', Prof Taylor said: "There will be several 1,000s of closures over the next few years unless we take appropriate action, which doesn't mean to pour money all over it, but it is to fund appropriately when necessary. "At the moment, if we got a partial collapse in the pharmacy network it would disrupt medicine supply and increase health inequalities… For me, it's missing out on the future development of better and more accessible care, which would be the tragedy of reducing, harming and damaging the pharmacy network unnecessarily."

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has called pharmacy employers and pharmacy trade unions to come together to a round table meeting to agree on principles for a way forward that ensures patients benefit consistently from access to high quality, adequately staffed, safe pharmacy services. It has also urged the governments, NHS organisations and individual pharmacy teams to define clear prioritisation plans, which can be embedded in organisational business continuity plans which set out the pharmacy services that are essential and must always be provided and can be de-prioritised at specific levels of pressures. The challenges for pharmacies are compounded by the escalating cost of living crisis. With unprecedented levels of burnout among pharmacists, pharmacy closures and the potential for strike action, RPS has called for three things- 'professionalism, respect and prioritisation.'

The Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) has launched a brutal attack on some large pharmacy chains for full or part-day closures of some of their shops throughout the UK. It published an Open Letter on Tuesday (July 19) demanding urgent action "to protect patients by ensuring that essential community pharmacy services are provided safely and consistently". PDA chair Mark Koizol, who wrote the letter, went on to allege that many of those closure were "being orchestrated". He wrote that the "pharmacist shortage" narrative cited as a reason for these closures was "very different" from "the reality experienced by our members", including both employed and locum pharmacists. "We have evidence to show that these closures are being announced up to four weeks in advance," Koizol claimed. He gave examples of how a large company attempted to reduce the pre-agreed rate of locums and where this was not accepted, the shift was cancelled, resulting in the pharmacy being closed for part or full day.

The English health secretary has fumbled the opportunity to prevent a crisis in the NHS this winter. She either does not understand or value the role of community pharmacy as the third pillar of patient access to essential healthcare. Her announcement that she wants community pharmacy to provide more services to take the strain off A&E departments and GP surgeries comes on the same day DHSC announces no new long-term investment to sustain the sector. Does she not understand that as a result of years of government underinvestment in England the network is in decline with random closures across the country? Too many pharmacies are temporarily closed every day due to workforce shortages beyond the control of pharmacy owners. Adding a new service here and there, even with some additional funding, does not address the longer term viability of the network which needs to know which patient services it will be expected to provide over the next 10 years - not just the next few months - and how those will be adequately remunerated. Asking more from our sector with no new investment is a strategy which is bound to fail. The pharmacy contract remains economically illiterate. The sector's finances need open heart surgery not a couple of paracetamol tablets.

The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has advised pharmacy contractors to use emergency provisions to avoid and reduce temporary closures amid shortage of pharmacists and other staff. The provision was introduced at the start of the pandemic to enables flexible provision of pharmaceutical services by pharmacies. It has been extended several times, currently until January 31, 2022. The negotiator noted that self-isolation requirements and a lack of available pharmacists led to a spike in short-notice closures/late opening/early closing incidents in the community pharmacy sector. However, it reminded contractors that they have a clear duty to provide services in line with their contractual arrangements.

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has called the future prime minister to deliver on the commitments made by the previous health secretaries to reform primary care through a 'pharmacy first' approach and fairly fund community pharmacies to avoid closures. In an open letter, the NPA has urged Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss, the two leadership contenders of the Conservative Party and prime ministerial candidates, to think radically about the role of England's 11,000 pharmacies, which are on the frontline of healthcare across the country. NPA also highlighted how pharmacies could help clear the NHS backlog, free up millions more GP appointments, dramatically improve access to primary health care and do more to prevent ill health and support people with long term medical conditions. "Because of our unparalleled presence in deprived areas, we also have great potential to level up access to healthcare and address health inequalities. We set these ideas out in How We Can Help, which is an improvement plan already welcomed by many of your colleagues."

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) survey revealed that 93 per cent of respondents experienced 'at least one month' of negative cash flow across their pharmacy business in 2022. Nine out of 10 pharmacy owners responding to NPA survey said they made a net loss dispensing medicines for the NHS during 2022, for at least one month of the year. According to the poll, 48 per cent of them lost money on this core NHS service for six months or more. 45 per cent said their overall outgoings had exceeded overall income in at least six months of the year. NPA Chair Andrew Lane said: "This survey shows the bleak financial reality facing many independent pharmacies after years of underfunding. Dispensing at a loss and negative cashflow is clearly unsustainable." "This funding crisis must be addressed urgently or pharmacies will fall into a spiral of declining services and ultimately widespread closures, he added. "Tragically, the story is playing out very much in line with independent research commissioned by the NPA last year, which warned of a nationwide financial emergency in our sector."

The NHS England and Improvement has announced the emergency provisions introduced during pandemic to provide flexible opening hours for pharmacy contractors end today. The flexibilities were enacted in March 2020 when changes to the Pharmaceutical Services (Advanced and Enhanced Services and Emergency Declaration) Directions 2020 were made following a declaration of emergency at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Since March 2020, the flexibilities have permitted temporary opening hours and closures during a specified period due to a genuine Covid-19 related emergency. NHS England and Improvement has advised pharmacy contractors that the emergency declaration will not be extended further and will expire on 31 March 2022. Pharmacy contractors will therefore no longer have the option to close pharmacies within their agreed contracted hours with the NHS.

Lack of appropriate funding is making survival a massive challenge for community pharmacy, a sector relied upon as a vital support system by both primary and secondary care in England. The Telegraph newspaper ran a story on Monday (August 22) which highlighted the dire straits community pharmacy finds itself in. Seasoned pharmacist Ian Strachan told the paper: "Our four pharmacies were the only point of call that was open (during Covid). We were there every single day, even when the virus was prevalent and people were dying." Describing the current situation, he said: "What is happening is we're facing a system that's just not working at all in our favour." Strachan says the issue is that pharmacists are "just not getting the help we need to be able to do this job properly". The sector is hugely dependent on funding from the NHS. The government had agreed in 2019 to set £2.6bn as annual funding for the sector. However, according to a report from EY that amount was already down £200m on the 2016 levels of government funding. "We've been starved of appropriate funding since 2016," Dr Leyla Hannbeck, chief executive of the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies told The Telegraph. "It looks grim for businesses. The fees pharmacists get are going nowhere, but now, there's higher utility bills, higher staff fees and higher drug costs."

Pharmacy bodies are "bitterly disappointed" that the latest deal on the national contract makes no commitment to "fresh funding", with one organisation calling it "the biggest dis-service ever done" to community pharmacy. The only commitment made in monetary terms was one in which NHS England agreed to write off a sum of £100m in excess margin earned by contractors in previous years. This allowance, which can't be seen as new cash injection, was said to have been made in recognition of the pressures facing the sector. The figure - reached after what the the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee called "a tense period of negotiations" with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England - will cover the final two years of the current five-year Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework. The deal was announced by PSNC chief executive Janet Morrison at an annual LPC Conference in Manchester on Thursday (22 September). Welcoming the attendees, she assured everyone that the committee was well aware of the pressures the sector was facing. "I heard how contractors are feeling and their frustrations over growing pressure and lack of financial support from the government. They confirmed that many now are unable to deliver the full range of services, and others are struggling to maintain core levels of services. And the ongoing impact of capacity and workforce crisis is critical, leading to temporary closures.