More than one in three pharmacies may not survive this winter without urgent financial support, industry leaders warn.
Owners warn the closures will leave patients without the care they need and pile pressure on other parts of the NHS.
It comes amid growing demand for help from customers with more complex needs – combined with a rise in the minimum wage and employers’ national insurance.
New polling by trade body Community Pharmacy England found 96 per cent of pharmacy owners are ‘concerned’ or ‘very concerned’ about the ability of their business to cope with winter pressures.
Some 39 per cent even fear their business will not survive the next few month, with 70 per cent saying patient safety may be affected.
The survey of 58 pharmacy owners or head office representatives, between them representing
3,565 pharmacy premises across England, found 81 per cent expect patients to face longer waiting times for medicines and 73 per cent a reduction in the availability of services.
A third (33 per cent) expect to have to reduce their opening hours.
New polling by trade body Community Pharmacy England found 96 per cent of pharmacy owners are ‘concerned’ or ‘very concerned’ about the ability of their business to cope with winter pressures (file image)
Owners warn the closures will leave patients without the care they need and pile pressure on other parts of the NHS (file image)
The Daily Mail has been campaigning to save High Street pharmacies, acknowledging the vital role they play in keeping communities thriving and healthy.
Janet Morrison, chief executive of Community Pharmacy England, said: ‘Community pharmacies simply will not withstand another season of winter pressures, and if they are left to collapse, the impact on businesses and their staff, on patients, on the wider NHS, and ultimately on the nation’s health, will be unthinkable.
‘Years of underfunding, with cuts of 30 per cent in real terms, have left community pharmacies battling for survival.
They will continue to do everything they can to stay open and serve their patients, and they still have big ambitions to do even more to help people and the NHS in the future, but pharmacies now need urgent support.’
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: ‘We inherited a broken system that is failing to support pharmacists to deliver care to their communities.
‘Community pharmacy has a vital role to play as we shift the focus of the NHS out of hospitals and into the community through our 10 Year Health Plan.
‘At the Budget we announced an extra £26 billion for the NHS and social care and will set out details on funding for next year in due course.’
