Save Our Pharmacies

Your local pharmacy gives you convenient access to medicines and health care advice, as well as many other NHS services.

It also plays a significant role in reducing the flow of patients to GPs and hospitals and helps vulnerable people live independently in the community for longer.

At least 1.6 million people a day visit a pharmacy in the UK for health care, so they are truly part of the fabric of daily life. Yet community pharmacies are under threat from years of government underfunding. The situation has declined further since the pandemic, with operating costs now significantly higher than the remuneration received from Government. This funding deficit has never been greater.

This has led to 14 pharmacies closing in Northern Ireland in the last year – which is more than what closed in the previous 10 years. In the UK as a whole pharmacies are closing at an alarming rate of 10 a week.

Many pharmacies have also reduced opening hours, closed at weekends and reduced staff in order to survive.

There are also vital, non-Government funded services, such as deliveries, which are no longer sustainable. Most pharmacy owners have made the difficult decision recently to ask patients to pay a fee for deliveries to help ensure this service can continue.

Pharmacies now routinely dispense NHS medicines at an overall loss – in other words they pay out of their own pockets to provide a core healthcare service.

It’s time to act! We need proper investment to ensure that pharmacies can continue to provide vital services and help the NHS tackle GP and hospital waiting times.

The broader implication of this crisis is the essential role community pharmacies can play in the healthcare system, especially during times of crisis as was evident during the COVID pandemic when our doors remained open. If the sector is properly funded, community pharmacies could help alleviate pressure on other parts of the healthcare sector by continuing to provide accessible, front-line services to communities.

How can you help?

Community Pharmacy representatives met with Stormont’s Health Committee earlier this year, with a number of local MLAs and with previous and current Health Minister’s to highlight the dire situation, but unfortunately the required funding has not materialised. We need your support!

We respectfully ask you to:

• Write to your local MP or MLA asking that they do everything they can to back community pharmacies

• Share your concerns on social media, using the hashtag #SaveOurPharmacies