What could change if pharmacies don’t get more Government funding?

Pharmacy owners in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have reportedly voted in favour of cutting opening hours and stopping home deliveries for the first time, in a protest over Government funding. The National Pharmacy Association which ran a ballot, is calling on the Government for an annual £1.7bn funding increase, in order to plug a quote ‘financial hole.’ The NPA itself represents around half of the UK’s community pharmacies, and the organisation reported that 99% of those that responded to the vote, said they were willing to limit their services unless funding was improved.
The Department of Health in England said that it wants all pharmacies to work with it to achieve a service fit for the future.
Interestingly, it’s also been reported that pharmacies have said they feel trapped in an NHS system which is not giving them the money they need to supply medicines to their customers. The BBC reported that one pharmacy manager said that she had resulted in turning away frustrated patients because she couldn’t justify the cost of buying in some drugs. The government said it was looking to make fundamental reforms in the system which had been neglected for too long. As a result of the vote, which most pharmacies voted in favour of cutting opening hours, it’s reported that fewer pharmacies could be open in the evenings and on the weekend from the New Year. Though, it’s important to note that not all pharmacies in the UK would be affected by such a possible change. It would only be approximately 8,000 pharmacies, who are members of the National Pharmacy Association, who would be affected. A total of 63.5% of members in England, Wales and Northern Ireland took part in the vote. According to the NPA, whilst pharmacies are contracted to open for a minimum of 40 hours a week, most are open for an average of 50 hours a week.