Pharmacy funding cuts risks closure, PSNC warns

Sue Sharpe, chief executive of the PSNC, has warned that the cuts to the sector would throw the health service into chaos, as closing pharmacies will mean more people will turn to GPs instead of pharmacists.

In a letter to the Department of Health, Sharpe said: “The proposals were and remain, founded on ignorance of the value of pharmacies to local communities, to the NHS, and to social care, and will do great damage to all three. We cannot accept them."

The PSNC said the new plans indicated that pharmacies would receive £113 million less than expected from December 2016 to March 2017 and £208 million less the following year.

The news comes after plans for a £170 million cut this year were delayed after two million people signed a petition opposing the change.

Currently 90 per cent of income pharmacy’s receive from the government pays for dispensing prescriptions.

A spokesman for the Department for Health said: "We have worked collaboratively with the PSNC and have listened to their suggestions and counter proposals over the course of many months.

"Ministers are considering a proposed package for the sector and no final decision has been taken, but we are committed to offering more help to those pharmacies people most depend on‎ compared to others."

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This story was first published in digitalhealth.net

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