Pharmacy – Lack of funding and workforce issues to blame for temporary closures, say LPCs

Pharmacy news. Factors including inadequate investment and workforce shortages have contributed to a rise in temporary pharmacy closures. Local pharmaceutical committee (LPC) chiefs have told C+D.

The debate on part or full-day pharmacy closures and the causes behind them has intensified over the past few months. All culminating in the Pharmacists’ Defence Association's (PDA) decision to flag the issue in an open letter. Which was aimed at NHS and regulatory bosses last month.

Read more: No one’s taking responsibility’: PDA pens open letter on temporary closures

In response, the Company Chemists’ Association defended its membership for “working extraordinarily hard to prevent temporary closures”.

C+D has spoken with four LPC chiefs to understand what they believe is causing temporary pharmacy closures and what solutions could be implemented.

Lack of pharmacy funding

Raj Matharu, chief officer for both Bexley, Bromley and Greenwich LPC and Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham LPC, told C+D yesterday (August 10) that “poorly remunerated funding” – which fails to recognise “the need for infrastructure investment and organisational development for community pharmacy” – has triggered the rise in temporary closures.

Read more: Tesco slammed as Lancashire pharmacy branch faces potential slew of closures

“NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE&I) needs to come up with a clear strategy for community pharmacy, which, in the spirit of the NHS long-term plan, needs to be written in collaboration with the sector,” he added.

“The strategy will then need to be underpinned with sustainable funding,” he stated.