Pharmacy funding cuts could increase health inequality

Funding cuts could lead to the closure of a number of community pharmacies that would have a disproportionate effect on deprived areas, Pharmacy Voice has warned.

New research by YouGov commissioned by Pharmacy Voice found that 29 per cent of people who would normally seek advice from their local pharmacy would book a GP appointment if that pharmacy were to close.

In its report, Dispensing Health Equality, Pharmacy Voice argues that this would put increased pressure on already stretched GP services, drawing particular focus to communities such as Fleetwood and Easington Lane, where there is no GP surgery and just one local pharmacy to serve the needs of thousands of residents.

Dr Mark Spencer, a GP in Fleetwood Lancashire and co-chair, NHS Alliance said: “At a time when there is an entirely unacceptable widening gap in life expectancy between rich and poor, extreme pressure on GPs, and increasing public awareness of the role pharmacy is playing in delivering services to support public health, it would be catastrophic if the areas that most need it, are deprived of access to this crucial community asset. Easington Lane and Fleetwood are two cases in point.”

Pharmacy Voice is urging the government to take note of this in context of proposed funding cuts and is calling for reassurance that ‘both urban and rural areas of high deprivation access to this much needed community asset will be protected’.