1 week Ago By Paul Gallagher
Reena Barai has spent her life at the SG Barai Pharmacy in Sutton, south London, first living above the shop her father took over in 1979 before becoming the owner herself 21 years ago. But her happy memories threaten to be overwhelmed as she faces the “heartbreaking” decision to close the doors for good due to the financial crisis engulfing pharmacies . Hundreds have already shut their doors and those still operating fear a £1.
7bn black hole they say is set to widen due to increasing costs and the lack of a long-term funding settlement with the Government. “All my customers have known me since I was a baby but the future doesn’t seem viable for us anymore” Reena, 47, told i . “They come in and ask: ‘you’re not going to close, are you?’ But we might do.
We may look like a really busy pharmacy but I’m a busy fool, because I’m busy doing stuff we’re not getting paid for. “I’m giving away free advice, I’m delivering medicines for free, I’m doing lots of things because we were able to have that goodwill with patients previously, where the income matched our activities. “However, we’ve had a 40 per cent funding cut in real terms over the last 10 years with no inflationary increase in our contract.
We’re doing more and more work for less and less money. We’ve had Covid and Brexit and the impact that has had on medicine supply, leaving us in this awful situation. That’s the position the majority of us are in.
” October’s Budget was another blow for the beleaguered sector as Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced rises to employer national insurance contributions and the national living wage. The NICs increase alone will cost each pharmacy £12,000 more on average, pharmacists have said. “All of those things have led to a perfect storm, which has had a greater impact on smaller businesses, like pharmacies, where the margins are quite small anyway,” Reena said.
“It’s not like we can put extra costs on the customer as over 90 per cent of our income is from the NHS. So what we’ve seen is Lloyds Pharmacy closed all of their stores, Boots have been announcing cuts to their premises as well. That has a knock-on effect on the [independent] pharmacy network, which still exists.
“We’re seeing more and more patients as the government has asked us to take on more and more services: blood pressure checks, Pharmacy First – where patients come to see us instead of a GP. On the one hand they’re asking us to do more, but they’re not then supporting us with keeping the network alive with basic core funding that we need to ensure the safe supply of medicines.” The current crisis means a future for her pharmacy is “absolutely not viable”, Reena said.
“You have to be able to make some money to survive. You have to be able to pay your staff and keep the lights on. Read Next Patients face waiting days for vital medicine at pharmacies on verge of collapse “If we keep on going the way we are – opening all hours, providing lots of free discretionary services, such as free delivery of medicines – we will close.
“Some pharmacies do not have enough money for next month’s drug bill so they’re thinking about closing in the nest few weeks. “We’ve had over 1,000 close over the last 10 years – on average about seven a week. There was 30 pharmacies in my little area and three have closed in the last few months.
” A pharmacy has existed on her premises for the last 100 years, but that era could come to an end as the financial uncertainty increases with every day. Reena is determined to weather the storm for as long as possible. “Every business is different.
This is my father’s pharmacy which I inherited. I don’t want to close,” she said. “I want to be the last woman standing -but at what cost? Will that mean I can’t pay myself a salary for several years? Will it be not upgrading our premises because we can’t afford to? Cutting hours and services because that’s the only way we can stay open? That’s the future I’m looking at.
” Pharmacists around the country want immediate extra funding – as the Government provided during the pandemic – to stabilise their position and then a long-term funding settlement to secure their future. “We want to unleash our potential,” Reena said. “I’ve just started working with our local doctors’ surgery and they send some of their patients who they don’t have time to see, to me.
So I’m doing blood pressure checks, menopause reviews. I’m helping offload the pressure on other parts of the NHS. “I can see the future, but unfortunately my bank manager and accountant do not.
It’s become the survival of the fittest.”.
