‘Unprecedented financial pressure will cause irreparable damage to pharmacy’

A NEW inquiry launched to assess the impact of Covid-19 on English pharmacies has warned that without urgent government intervention, financial pressure will cause irreparable damage to the sector.

The flash inquiry conducted by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Pharmacy (APPG) found that while pharmacy teams have been responding to the pandemic in heroic fashion, the sector is being pushed to breaking point because of unprecedented operational and financial pressures.

The group of MPs and peers heard that more than nine in 10 members of the pharmacy workforce felt their place of work was under severe financial pressure with nearly half of pharmacy contractors warning that they could close within a year.

"The pandemic has amplified and accelerated the worrying trends in pharmacy,” a report published by the group stated on Dec 14.

The survey, which involved 1,604 pharmacy professionals, found that 80 per cent contractors felt government loans to the tune of f £370m as advanced payments were not been enough to mitigate their financial woes. Many contractors are deeply concerned about how they will pay this back in the future.

While 91 per cent respondents felt that the government did not appreciate the role of pharmacy in frontline healthcare, 80 per cent said they did not have access to any asymptomatic testing for Covid-19.

“The public rightly recognise pharmacy teams continue to lift heaven and earth to remain open and ensure the safe supply of medicines during the pandemic," chair of the APPG, Jackie Doyle-Price, said. "But people would be shocked to hear that unprecedented financial pressure is now pushing many pharmacies to close."

Urging the government to "seize on this opportunity to unleash the potential of pharmacy," she pointed out that the report "outlines both the amazing response and suggestions for how the government can support pharmacies."

The report has examples of how the potential value of properly investing in pharmacy and reform could save the NHS money and provide better outcomes for patients. "Evidence submitted to us was filled with examples of pharmacies providing a lifeline to communities, often directly saving lives. But it also conveyed a bleak outlook for the future highlighting the irreversible damage that is being caused to the pharmacy network."

The survey results also indicated a high degree of burn-out in the workforce with many pharmacy contractors feeling that they are regarded almost as a charity service having to survive with uncertain and insufficient cashflow. "A flat funding structure and rising costs are forcing pharmacies to operate with financial problems no business can endure."

The survey of the pharmacy workforce as well as a call for evidence was launched by the group on November 17 and ran until November 30.

Report recommendations

• Government should look back at the response from pharmacies during Covid and use this as a basis to revaluate a clear vision of what the country needs from pharmacy.
• Government and NHS leaders should consult on and undertake action to empower pharmacists to do more by providing more resources for training and supercharge the workforce which has shown it is a vital component of the NHS.
• There needs to be a revaluation at both the heart of government and within finance teams in the DH and NHS England about the value of pharmacy.
• Government should write off the advanced payments as an immediate way of providing relief to the sector.
• Government should consider boosting overall funding in recognition of both the great financial pressures faced and the huge contribution made to frontline healthcare during the pandemic.