Warwickshire pharmacies fear rising costs could force them to close weekends and evenings

PHARMACIES in the Stratford area say they may be forced to close at weekends and evenings as they battle spiralling costs.

The impact could leave hundreds of patients unable to collect their medication or ask for advice.

Cuts to NHS funding stretching back years, combined with rocketing costs have pushed many independent community pharmacists to the brink.

As a result, thousands this week voted in favour of action after being balloted by their membership body the National Pharmacy Association (NPA).

Pharmacist Jon Worton and his business partner and fellow pharmacist Michael Cathcart own and run three independent pharmacies – two in Alcester and one in Redditch.

The pair saved the Alcester High Street branch after taking it over from Lloyds who were closing it. But its town centre location comes with premium rent which is higher than its sister branch, Hopkins Pharmacy in the medical centre on the edge of the town.

Jon and Michael work long hours, six days a week, including on Sundays and days off, to keep their pharmacies running. He fears that unless more funding comes from the NHS, they may have to cut back on opening hours, including weekend and evenings.

He told the Herald: “Funding for pharmacies is at a critical level and pharmacies are closing down every week, leaving large areas of the county without services.

“We’ve been a neglected area for years now and it’s got to the point where costs are at their highest.”

His pharmacies offer free home delivery but the steep rise in the cost of petrol, road tax, insurance, maintenance and driver wages is making it impossible. He added: “We just can’t afford to do it.”

From next April, costs for all businesses, including pharmacies, will go with the rise in the minimum wage and employers’ NI contributions.

He pointed out: “Our funding has been cut and cut, while all our costs have increased and unlike other businesses that have put up prices, because we’re NHS funded our prices are fixed.”

He added: “It is very challenging out there and a lot of pharmacies just can't do it any more.

“The big chains don’t look at it the same way we do – they just say, ‘That branch isn't profitable, close it’, without any emotion, but we and all the independent chemists we know are working a lot more hours because we can’t afford to bring people in but we won’t let our businesses go under as we don’t want to let people down.

“But I can see that in certain locations, hours will be reduced.

“A lot of pharmacies I know have already applied to reduce their contracted hours, so that will hit weekends, evenings, early mornings, late nights – those hours will go.”

The NPA says its members have seen a real term cut of 30-40 per cent in NHS funding over the past decade.

It estimates 700 pharmacies have shut in England in the past two years, with more than 1,250 closing during the past 10 years.

With almost two-thirds of its members voting for action, after the New Year many pharmacists could open only for their contracted 40 hours a week.

And potentially, they could stop offering things like emergency contraception and stop smoking services.

Guriq Randhawa, who manages Bidford Pharmacy, said balancing higher costs with lower funding could impact services such as free home deliveries, which he says could become “a thing of the past”.

He also cited making up ‘trays’ to aid patients take the right number of tablets on the right days, which is not NHS funded.

His pharmacy handles around 60-70 trays each month and they take much longer to make up. The pharmacy also provides 6,000 prescriptions each month and on average, 20-30 people visit the pharmacy each day for free advice or a consultation.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson told the PA news agency this week: “Community pharmacy has a vital role to play as we move the focus of care from hospital to the community under the fundamental reforms in our 10-year health plan.

“Unfortunately, we inherited a system that has been neglected for too long and is no longer supporting the pharmacists we need to deliver for patients at a local level.

“We are committed to working with the sector and would encourage all pharmacists to work with us to achieve what we all want – a service fit for the future.”

Parminder Johal, who manages Wellesbourne Pharmacy at Hastings House Medical Centre said the branch has already reduced staff hours to cut costs.

He said: “Pharmacies need more funding.

“We could do all the services they want us to do and hire the appropriate number of staff to run them if we had more funding.

“But it’s steadily getting worse.”