I was so surprised this week to be talking to the pharmacist at my local chemist (also known as pharmacies) and hearing the real difficulties they are facing with funding and future viability.
We hear so many times how we should avoid calling an ambulance or going to hospital and should use our local doctors surgeries and pharmacies more, but then to learn they are facing a significant cut in funding this does not stack up.
On 17th December 2015, the government announced that funding for community pharmacy in 2016/17 will be cut by £170m. The cut, from £2.8bn to £2.63bn, is a reduction of more than 6% in cash terms. So not only have they not had inflationary increases this year they have had a cut in the funding received in the previous year.
Following consultation and meetings with pharmacists representatives on 20th October 2016, the Government decided to impose a two-year funding package on community pharmacies, with a £113 million reduction in funding in 2016/17. This is a reduction of 4% compared with last year, but it will mean that pharmacies will see their funding for December 2016 to March 2017 fall by an average of 12% compared with current levels. This will be followed by a reduction in 2017/18 of around 7.5% compared with current levels.
As part of the package the Department of Health (DH) will make changes to the way in which funding is distributed, introducing quality payments and a Pharmacy Access Scheme (PhAS).
It is unlikely that pharmacies will close immediately, however there is no doubt that pharmacy owners will have to take steps to reduce costs. Initially these are likely to include reducing opening hours and staffing, and stopping the provision of services which they are not obliged to provide, such as home delivery of medicines and the supply of medicines in compliance aids. Eventually some pharmacies will just not be viable and will close.
It also looks likely that the government will be following an initiative to reduce the number of pharmacies in our communities. It looks as if a similar programme that it undertook with post office’s will now hit the pharmacy network. You may remember the post office closure programme, called “Network Reinvention” by the government, which saw Post Office numbers reduced from 17,432 in October 2002 to around 11,500 outlets now.
Should pharmacies close, whether it is by a thinning out of the outlets, or by pure financial viability, the one sure thing is the government will save money one the pharmacy budget, it will however cause hardship for some in our communities, the elderly, disabled, those with chronic disease and those without transport. Personally I believe it will just shift patients to another provider within the health service by putting more pressure (and hence expense) on other services such as GP Practices, Minor Injuries and A & E.
So what can we all do? We can lobby to support our pharmacies, by signing petitions and writing to our MPs and government ministers. We can help raise more awareness of this issue by telling our friends, community groups and other networks we participate in.
I guess however one of the best ways is to continue to use our local pharmacy for whatever we can to show how important they are to the community.
Some people may not realise that they do far more than selling over the counter drugs and dispensing prescriptions. The Pharmacist can advise on minor illnesses, such as coughs, colds, aches and pains, as well as healthy eating and stopping smoking. They can give flue inoculations and emergency contraception. Some pharmacies can do health checks, help with alcohol problems, weight loss programmes and all sorts of other things.
Next time you go into your local pharmacy why not ask them what services they provide and use the ones you can.
If you don’t support them when you really need them they might not be there!
Gary Hepburn is a business owner, consultant and company director. He has held senior positions in public, private and multi-national companies, a company group pension fund the NHS and Police Authority. Gary is involved in many voluntary and charitable organisations including Coram Life Education, Life Education Wessex and Thames Valley, The Scout Association, Weymouth Town Charities, Weymouth Carnival as well as being a governor at a school federation and churchwarden at his local church. Gary’s interests are mental health, pre hospital emergency care, resuscitation, medical training, health & safety, fire safety, and health prevention and health and well-being education.