'Left with no option': Pharmacies vote to reduce hours and cut key services over funding 'crisis'
The change could see some pharmacies withdraw from providing emergency contraception and smoking services, as ITV News reporter Amy Lewis reports
Fewer pharmacies could be open in the evenings and on weekends from the New Year after pharmacy owners voted in favour of collective action for the first time in their history.
The change could also see some pharmacies stop providing emergency contraception and smoking services.
However, the change in hours will not affect all pharmacies in the UK, only the approximately 8,000 who are members of the National Pharmacy Association (NPA).
The NPA said its members “have been forced into an untenable position by a decade of underfunding”.
The trade association warned that pharmacies “don’t want to reduce services” but “will be left with no option” if the government does not provide an adequate response on funding in the coming weeks.
NPA chairman Nick Kaye said: “Pharmacies desperately want to support their local communities with access to medicines and advice but have been forced into an untenable position by a decade of underfunding which has led to a record number of closures.
“As a third-generation pharmacist, I deeply care about my patients, as do pharmacy teams across the country, but I have never experienced a situation as desperate as this.
“Pharmacy owners are not a radical bunch, we have never proposed action like this before, but after a decade of underfunding and record closures, something simply has got to give.”
The government has told ITV News that it is "committed to working with the sector" and blamed underfunding on the system it "inherited".
What could change?
From the New Year, pharmacies could decide to:
Reduce their hours to only 40 per week, cutting evening and weekend openings
They may also end free medicine deliveries that are not funded
Stop offering emergency contraception, substance misuse and smoking support
Refuse certain data requests
Limit free monitored-dose packs to those required by disability law
About 3,339 independent pharmacies in England, Wales and Northern Ireland took part in the unprecedented ballot, a turnout of 64%.
Out of those who voted, 97.8% of pharmacies said they would provide notice for opening hours that exceed the minimum required by their contract, meaning fewer will be open during evenings and weekends.
According to the NPA, pharmacies are contracted to open for a minimum of 40 hours a week, although most are open for an average of 50 hours a week.
Elsewhere, about 96.1% voted to withdraw from locally commissioned services such as emergency contraception, addiction support and stop-smoking services.
While 96.8% voted to stop providing medicine packs not covered by NHS funding, except for those protected by the Disability Discrimination Act.
Nearly all participants (99.2%) voted against cooperating with certain data requests that exceed the requirements for patient safety and contractual minimums.
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"Pharmacies don’t want to reduce services but we will be left with no option but to suggest that pharmacy owners should consider acting on the clear ballot results if government does not act to protect this vital and much-loved part of our health service," Mr Kaye added.
The NPA has estimated around 700 pharmacies have shut down in England in the last two years, with more than 1,250 closing in the last decade.
Mr Kaye also said last month’s Budget has “intensified” issues, while he does agree with the Government’s aim to shift more care from hospitals into the community, he warned the sector must be properly funded.
“The sense of anger among pharmacy owners has been intensified exponentially by the Budget – with its hike in National Insurance employers’ contributions and the unfunded National Living Wage increase – which has tipped even more pharmacies to the brink,” he explained.
Dr Leyla Hannbeck, chief executive of the Independent Pharmacies Association, said: “Community pharmacy sector is in an escalating crisis with £1.7 billion shortfall in its funding."
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson told ITV News: "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.”
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