‘Chronic underfunding’ has led to one-in-six pharmacies cutting weekend opening hours, a new analysis has found.
The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) said that this equated to around 1,600 pharmacies reducing their opening hours, while its analysis also found that a further 8% of pharmacies over the last four years had chosen to shut entirely on Saturdays and Sundays.
This has led to a 20% overall reduction in pharmacy opening hours – equivalent to more than 16,000 hours of pharmacy time – at the weekend since 2022, the NPA said.
Related Article: Payment percentage for statutory branded medicines scheme drops to 16.5%
The organisation attributed this drop in weekend opening times to 'chronic underfunding'.
Its analysis revealed that Kent, Birmingham and Lancashire have seen some of the steepest drops in weekend provision for patients, with each losing almost 30% of weekend opening hours since 2022.
Meanwhile, Cornwall saw the highest percentage fall in Sunday opening hours since 2022, with 34% fewer pharmacies opening on a Sunday compared to four years ago. This was followed by Oxfordshire, Chester and Cheshire West.
The NPA has also received reports of patients travelling for nearly an hour to reach their nearest pharmacy on a Sunday in some parts of Cornwall.
Its analysis found that Kent and Birmingham have seen significant drops in Sunday opening since 2022, with 14 pharmacies in each area no longer opening on a Sunday.
And in Devon, pharmacies only operated one tenth of the opening hours on a Sunday compared to the average weekday, the NPA analysis added.
Related Article: Research review: a look at the latest clinical papers
The chair of the NPA, Olivier Picard, said: ‘This is yet more evidence that the pharmacy network in England is creaking at the seams after facing deep cuts over a number of years.
‘Sadly, the real losers are the millions of patients these pharmacies serve, particularly those in rural areas, who are forced to travel long distances or even go to hospital if they need a prescription or advice for a minor health issue on a Sunday or late at night.
‘Pharmacists have huge potential to take away pressure from the rest of the health system, but the reality is that they are hanging on by their fingertips, raiding pension pots or remortgaging homes to stay open.’
Earlier this week, MPs highlighted the importance or rural pharmacies and raised concerns about the impact of potential closures.
Related Article: MenB vaccination programme to be rolled out in pharmacies
Gregory Stafford, MP for Farnham and Bordon, said: ‘For villages and small towns, the local pharmacy is not a luxury; it is a frontline health service.’
North West Leicestershire, MP Amanda Hack, added that rural pharmacies were ‘lifelines’ for her constituents.
Have your say
Please add your comment in the box below. You can include links, but HTML is not permitted. Please note that comments are not moderated before publication and the views expressed are those of the user and do not reflect the views of The Pharmacist. Remember that submission of comments is governed by our Terms and Conditions. You can also read our full guidelines on article comments here – but please be aware that you are legally liable for any libellous or offensive comments that you make. If you have a complaint about a comment or are concerned that a comment breaches our terms and conditions, please use the ‘Report this comment’ function to alert our web team.