Nearly a sixth of pharmacies could close within a year, Pressures Survey indicates
Community Pharmacy England has today released a national report confirming the severe financial pressures putting community pharmacies at risk of closure, threatening patient care and access to services across England.
The Pharmacy Pressures Survey 2024: Funding and Profitability Report sets out what pharmacy owners and their teams have told us about the depths of the challenges they face. The report, which is being shared with national media, MPs and other pharmacy advocates this week, is based on views shared by the owners of over 6,100 pharmacy premises in England and 2,000 pharmacy team members in our recent Pressures Survey.
Spiralling costs and workload coupled with a 30% funding cut in real terms since 2015 mean too many pharmacies are struggling to stay afloat. Countless pharmacies are at risk of closure, with our report revealing that nearly 1 in 6 may close within the next year.
The findings show that pharmacies across the sector are grappling with severe financial challenges that threaten their ability to provide even the core services for their patients. The majority (94%) of pharmacy owners report that they have seen significant increases in costs, with almost two-thirds (64%) saying they are operating at a loss.
Concerningly, these pressures are now having an impact on patients, with 18% of pharmacy staff saying they are being severely impacted. Most pharmacies now have longer prescription dispensing times (86%), delays in responding to patient inquiries (80%), and less time to spend with patients (79%).
More than 40% of the pharmacy owners surveyed earlier this year noted that the financial strain is limiting their ability to provide Advanced services, which was borne out in our June snap poll when nearly a third of pharmacies reported they had stopped provision of some of these services.
Community Pharmacy England is calling for immediate action to address the financial challenges facing pharmacies secure their future and protect the health of local communities across England.
Read the Funding and Profitability Report
Note: this is one in a series of reports that are being developed about the findings of the 2024 Pharmacy Pressures Survey. Our Medicines Supply Report generated widespread media coverage earlier this year and we will continue to use the survey’s results to highlight other severe challenges impacting on the community pharmacy sector.
Today, the findings of our Funding and Profitability Report appeared exclusively in The Telegraph. We are also sharing the results with a wide range of media publications, MPs, Peers, think tanks, patient groups and other pharmacy advocates. For support with media interviews, please contact: comms.team@cpe.org.uk
Resources for pharmacies
Pharmacy owners can help raise awareness of this issue using our new resources:
Pharmacy owners and LPCs are also encouraged to make use of the current break in Parliamentary activity to engage with their local MPs to seek support for pharmacy.
Support on this topic is available in our ‘Top tips to maximise dispensing income’ factsheet, which links to a wealth of resources and serves as a handy written checklist. You can also read about our work to tackle key issues and our plans for the future in Community Pharmacy England’s strategy to improve outlook for pharmacy.
Janet Morrison, Chief Executive of Community Pharmacy England, said:
“Community pharmacies are under severe financial strain, with widespread profitability concerns. Many are losing money and uncertain about their ability to survive another year: this is a direct consequence of the significant funding cuts and spiralling costs which have pushed them to the brink.
Our findings make distressing reading, and they should be ringing alarm bells for anybody interested in protecting the health and wellbeing of local communities and the public. We’ve been warning for many months and years that these issues must be resolved, and this evidence provides yet another stark warning which must not be ignored.”
Zoe Long, Director of Communications, Corporate and Public Affairs at Community Pharmacy England, said:
“This year’s Pressures Survey results once again make for difficult reading, showing the deep distress that community pharmacies are in. Whilst this confirms what everyone working in community pharmacy already knows, having this evidence will support our campaigning and influencing work: a huge thank you to everyone who took the time to share their experiences with us.
We are sharing our findings with Government and the NHS, as well as with the national media and politicians. We have developed a range of resources to help everyone in the sector to highlight these worrying findings, and hope many of you may be able to do so.”
