2 weeks Ago By Emma Lewell MP
Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Shields Gazette, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Through Covid, when GP surgeries closed, and hospitals were overwhelmed, they remained open and were often a first port of call. We know that there are already 1,300 fewer pharmacies than in 2017, with 30 closing since the start of this year and those that have survived have faced a decade of funding cuts.
Advertisement Advertisement This week, after a year of negotiations, the Government and pharmacies agreed a deal and funding package that halted protests scheduled to take place on April 1. These protests would have seen unprecedented action from some local pharmacies, cutting their hours and ‘working to rule’. The fact that the planned ‘working to rule’ meant they would be open 40 hours per week and closed at weekends indicates just how many hours they are actually currently operating.
This action would have also seen them ceasing to provide smoking cessation and emergency contraception support and would have meant an end to free home deliveries. Community pharmacies have been warning of closures for some time now after years of underfunding, despite an increasing workload. Advertisement Advertisement The Government has announced increased funding of an extra £617 million over two years as well as writing off historical debt for community pharmacy owners linked to the pandemic.
These are the first steps in trying to alleviate some of the pressures our community pharmacies are facing. The National Pharmacy Association and other representative bodies are working through the Governments proposals and consulting their members. The deal also includes more mental health support for patients, an increase in consultations and blood pressure checks, giving patients more access to care and support on their high streets, freeing up GP time and reducing waiting lists.
This deal sends a very clear signal that this Labour Government understands the importance of community pharmacies and the vital role they play. Unlike the previous Government, we are working with them to fix the broken pharmacy sector because without our community pharmacies, we will all be much worse off..
