More than one in three pharmacies may not survive this winter without urgent financial support, industry leaders warn.
Landlords warn that closures will leave patients without the care they need and increase pressure on other parts of the NHS.
It comes amid growing demand for help from customers with more complex needs, combined with an increase in the minimum wage and employers’ national insurance.
A new survey by trade body Community Pharmacy England found that 96 per cent of pharmacy owners are “concerned” or “very concerned” about their businesses’ ability to cope with winter pressures.
Some 39 percent even fear their business will not survive the coming months, and 70 percent say patient safety may be affected.
The survey conducted with 58 pharmacy owners or central office representatives, representing among them
Across 3,565 pharmacies across England it was found that 81 per cent expect patients to face longer waiting times for medicines and 73 per cent expect a reduction in the availability of services.
A third (33 percent) expect to have to reduce their opening hours.
A new survey by trade body Community Pharmacy England found that 96 per cent of pharmacy owners are “concerned” or “very concerned” about their business’s ability to cope with winter pressures (file image)
Landlords warn closures will leave patients without the care they need and increase pressure on other parts of the NHS (file image)
The Daily Mail has been campaigning to save High Street pharmacies, recognizing the vital role they play in keeping communities prosperous 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 NHS as a whole and ultimately, on the health of the nation, will be unthinkable.
‘Years of underfunding, with cuts of 30 per cent in real terms, have left community pharmacies struggling to survive.
They will continue to do everything they can to stay open and care for their patients, and 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 spokesperson said: ‘We inherited a failed system that does not support pharmacists to deliver care to their communities.
‘Community pharmacy has a vital role to play as we move the NHS focus from hospitals to the community through our Ten Year Health Plan.
“In the Budget we announced an extra £26bn for the NHS and social care and will present details on funding for next year in due course.”