This story was first published in digitalhealth.net
Pharmacies to close as NHS faces £170m funding cut
Alistair Burt, minister for community and social care, has announced that thousands of high street pharmacies in England are due to face closure following plans to cut NHS spending by £170 million.
The Department of Health (DoH) has revealed that funding for community pharmacies is set to fall from £2.8bn to £2.63bn from October, as part of a bid to source £22bn of savings across the health service by 2020.
The DoH argued that in some areas of the country there was an excess of pharmacies, with the average institution receiving £220,000 of NHS funding per year.
However, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has said the move could put more pressure on GPs and accident and emergency departments.
Whilst no exact number has been specified, Burt has estimated that between 1,000 and 3,000 out of 11,674 pharmacies could be closed down, warning that smaller, independent pharmacies were most at risk.
Sandra Gidley, from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, said: "We have a number of concerns. We have spent a lot of time and energy encouraging people to come to pharmacies for health advice to cut pressure on A&E departments and GP services.
"Under the plans pharmacies could be forced to cut staff and have less capacity to give important health advice.
"The government must consider the capacity that the community pharmacy network provides to relieve pressures on GPs and A&E."
According to the DoH, there was a 20 per cent rise in the number of pharmacies it funded between 2003 and 2015. Statistics also showed that 40 per cent of community pharmacies are within close proximity of each other, usually within 10 minutes’ walk.
A DoH spokesperson said: "We are investing record amounts in the NHS, but the whole health and care sector must make efficiencies to fulfil the NHS's own five-year plan.
"We want to improve the way patients access their medicines, through click-and-collect as well as being able to see pharmacists in care homes, GP surgeries and A&E.
"There is no estimate of the number of pharmacies operating in coming years and with NHS England we are consulting on a scheme to give better support to isolated or rural pharmacies."
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