Half of local pharmacies could close
Half of community pharmacies are set to shut within a year without more funding, an industry body has warned.
Smaller dispensaries are on a "cliff edge" and closing at a rate of 12 per month, according to the National Pharmacy Association (NPA).
The Surrey village of Shepperton is feeling the pinch as only one pharmacy remains after two closed in the last five years, BBC Radio Surrey reports.
A Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) spokesperson said: "Community pharmacies play a vital role in our healthcare system and are key to our plans to make healthcare fit for the future."
Akash Patel is superintendent pharmacist at Trio Pharmacy in Shepperton.
He said 90% of income comes from NHS's contractual funding which pays them to deliver services, but he said this had been cut by 30 - 40% in the last 10 years.
Mr Patel said the pharmacy was "really, really feeling the pinch".
"We're basically trading at a loss," he added. "Margins are very tight at the moment."
Mr Patel's customers say that the nearest pharmacy is a car ride away - one local said she has epilepsy and cannot drive, meaning she is hugely reliant on Trio to get her vital medicine.
She said: "If this pharmacy shuts, I'm done then.
"I have nowhere to get my prescriptions as far as it's concerned in this area."
NPA vice chair Olivier Picard said the government's national insurance increase and funding cuts are hitting community pharmacies the hardest.
He said: "Basically we are dispensing medication at the same price we were in 2016.
"In that time the cost of electricity has gone up, wages have gone up by about 50% - that's the national living wage."
The NPA is asking the government to release the finding of its independent economic review which says what it should pay pharmacies.
They added the government is yet to let pharmacists know funding for 2024-25.
Mr Picard added: "It is quite frankly a shocking picture."
A DHSC spokesperson said: "We recognise the hard work pharmacists undertake every day to deliver for patients."
They added they would update the BBC on the outcome of their consultation in due course.
Follow BBC Surrey on Facebook, on X and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250.
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