Concern has been raised over what have been described as 'incorrect and misleading' figures released today by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) which suggest a record number of active dispensing contractors in several years.
New data published by the NHSBSA claim that 2023/24 saw the 'highest number of active dispensing contractors since 2015/16'.
But it noted that in 2023/24 'an increased number' of pharmacy contracts changed providers compared to previous years, which it said 'may inflate the number of active pharmacies in the year compared to the number of pharmacy premises'.
This is because the NHSBSA figures are based on the number of pharmacy organisation codes that are active at any point throughout the year. And a new organisation code may be issued when a pharmacy contract changes providers.
Related Article: Anticoagulant Inhixa recalled due to typo
The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) described the numbers as 'incorrect and misleading', and said they contradicted monthly statistics from the NHSBSA which show a decline.
According to the NHSBSA figures released today, during 2023/24, there were 12,009 active community pharmacies and 112 active appliance contractors.
But it said: 'An active community pharmacy or appliance contractor is one that has submitted prescriptions to the NHSBSA for processing in the specified time period. If a pharmacy has opened, submitted a prescription to the NHSBSA and then closed again in the same year, it would still be classed as an active pharmacy.'
For the previous year 2022/23, NHSBSA reported that active dispensing contractors in England were at their lowest level since 2015/16, with 11,414 active community pharmacies and 111 active appliance contractors.
| Financial Year |
Community pharmacies |
Appliance contractors |
Community pharmacies and appliance contractors |
| 2015/2016 |
11,949 |
116 |
12,065 |
| 2016/2017 |
11,890 |
111 |
12,001 |
| 2017/2018 |
11,972 |
111 |
12,083 |
| 2018/2019 |
11,886 |
111 |
11,997 |
| 2019/2020 |
11,826 |
112 |
11,938 |
| 2020/2021 |
11,636 |
112 |
11,748 |
| 2021/2022 |
11,522 |
111 |
11,633 |
| 2022/2023 |
11,414 |
111 |
11,525 |
| 2023/2024 |
12,009 |
112 |
12,121 |
Source: NHSBSA General Pharmaceutical Services in England 2015-16 - 2023-24
But according to the NHSBSA monthly statistics on pharmacy openings and closures, at the latest snapshot taken on 30 September 2024, there were 10,458 community pharmacies.
At the close of the last financial year, on 31 March 2024, there were 10,519 community pharmacies, according to the monthly statistics.
The NPA has responded to the NHSBSA's annual report with concern and said: 'These figures give an incorrect and misleading picture of the shocking fall in pharmacy numbers, which have dropped substantially this year.
Related Article: Interview: Pharmacy First saves time, prevents escalation, and frees up capacity
'They include the double counting of pharmacies as well as the inclusion of pharmacies that have shut their doors during the year due to chronic underfunding,' an NPA spokesperson said today.
'They contradict monthly pharmacy numbers published by the NHSBSA, which confirm the network in England to be at its smallest for nearly 20 years.'
An NPA spokesperson added: 'Everyone knows the community pharmacy network is at crisis point due to the impact of rising workload pressures coupled with 10 years of government cuts.
'It's important everyone recognises the true extent of the decline in the pharmacy network and works together to provide a new deal for community pharmacy which will end the closures and expand the role pharmacy can play.'
And Janet Morrison, chief executive of Community Pharmacy England (CPE), said: 'As per the notes to this publication, this apparent anomaly in pharmacy numbers reflects an increased number of pharmacy contracts changing hands during the year in question.
Related Article: New GPhC chief standards officer appointed
'On all measures, community pharmacies are under extreme financial pressures and closing at a worrying rate.'
Cost of medicines at nine-year high
The NHSBSA also revealed that in 2023/24:
- Medicines costs were at a nine-year high, with the reimbursement costs for drugs and appliances reaching £10.2 billion, a 5% increase from 2022/23.
- Community pharmacies dispensed 1.1 billion prescription items, a 3% increase from 2022/23.
- Each community pharmacy contractor delivered an average of 93,000 items throughout the year
- There were 1.08 billion prescription items dispensed via the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS). This was 96% of all items dispensed - a small percentage increase from 2022/23. 99.7% of contractors dispensed at least one item via EPS.
- The value of single activity fees paid to contractors was £1.4 billion in 2023/24.
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.