Pharmacies to ballot on withdrawal of services in protest at cuts

A formal ballot has been sent out to NPA members which warns that patient safety could be compromised if the current level of pharmacy closures and workload pressures continue because of a 40% real terms funding cut over the past 10 years. 

The ballot asks pharmacies if they will reduce services and put NHS leaders on notice that they will cut their hours to contract minimums and withdraw free deliveries or free medicine dispensing packs if the financial situation for pharmacies does not improve. 

The ballot will be open for responses for six weeks and any action supported by a majority of pharmacies could take place before Christmas. 

Most pharmacies are contracted to open for a minimum of 40 hours a week but the majority  open for longer to offer out of hours or weekend services. 

It also asks pharmacies if they will boycott data collection beyond that required in their contract and consider serving notice on a range of locally contracted services, negotiated directly with local authorities. 

A motion included in the ballot says: “Community pharmacies are committed to providing a safe service. But our ability to provide that safe provision will soon be put at risk by continued declining funding, mass pharmacy closures and growing workloads. 

“We are putting the NHS leaders on notice that we cannot guarantee community pharmacy services will remain safe into the future if current depressed funding, pharmacy closures and increasing workload trends continue.” 

A cross-sector delegation, led by the NPA, delivered a petition of more than 350,000 signatures to Downing Street calling for action to support community pharmacies. It comes as more than 6,000 pharmacies across the country staged a day of action to highlight the threats to their service. 

The most recent 5-year contract for pharmacies in England expired in April. But nearly half-way through this current financial year, no funding offer for this year has been made public and no discussions have been opened on a longer term settlement for the pharmacy sector. 

The NPA are calling for a £1.3 billion funding increase in England to plug the financial blockhole facing community pharmacies. 

Paul Rees, chief executive of the NPA, said: “It pains us to take this step but pharmacies are being pushed to the brink by a decade of real terms cuts that has slashed 40% from their funding. 

“Pharmacies are routinely required  to dispense NHS medicines at a loss, 1,500 have been forced to close in the past decade, while others have had to cut hours to try and make ends meet. That is not acceptable and is hitting patients hard. 

“We desperately want to work with Wes Streeting and the new Government to unleash the vast potential of pharmacies to deliver the better health in the community that we all want. 

“But despite big settlements for junior doctors and others since the election there is no sign - as yet - of an end to the chronic real terms cuts that is literally driving dedicated healthcare professionals in pharmacies out of business.”