"Pharmacy deserts" revealed with over 1,000 lost in less than a decade

EMBARGO: 2230 Friday 18th April

• The number of pharmacies in England and Wales has fallen by more than 1,000 since 2016 - a drop of 8%
• Some constituencies have fewer than 10 pharmacies to service the entire area with with more than three-quarters seeing the number of pharmacies fall
• The Liberal Democrats have called on the Government to exempt pharmacies from their “jobs tax” and overhaul the broken business rates system

The number of pharmacies in England and Wales has fallen by more than 1,000 since 2016 with some constituencies reduced to less than 10 pharmacies to service the entire area, research by the House of Commons Library commissioned by the Liberal Democrats has revealed.

The research showed that in September 2016 there were 12,204 pharmacies in England and Wales. That figure has now fallen to 11,184, a loss of 1,020 equating to a fall of 8%.

Some areas have been decimated by the loss of pharmacies leading to a stark postcode lottery. Five constituencies now have less than 10 pharmacies caring for patients across the entire area whilst others have close to 70.

440 constituencies in England and Wales, more than three-quarters (77%) of the total, have seen a decline in the number of pharmacies since 2016 with just 65 (11%) experiencing an increase.

There were staggering falls in the number of pharmacies in some areas. Feltham and Heston, Bristol East and Newbury all lost a third of their pharmacies in less than a decade, the highest rate of pharmacy losses in the country. The areas with the highest number of pharmacies lost were the Cities of London and Westminster (-22), Birmingham Ladywood (-11) and Blackburn (-10). One of the seats in Kingston-upon-Hull, which is holding a tightly contested mayoral contest on 1st May, lost eight pharmacies.

The Liberal Democrats said that the figures revealed the extent to which “pharmacy deserts” were spreading and called on the Government to exempt pharmacies from being “hammered” by the rise in national insurance coming into effect on the 6th April. Previous research by Community Pharmacy England found that pharmacies were set to be hit by a £50 million tax rise due to the Government’s jobs tax with the organisation warning that the policy “will wreak havoc on an already fragile community pharmacy network”.

The National Pharmacy Association also said that the previous Conservative government’s cuts to community pharmacy funding meant that the number of pharmacies was at risk of falling to their lowest level in 20 years.

The Liberal Democrats also called on the Government to overhaul the broken business rates system to ensure that pharmacy finances could be put on a sustainable footing to prevent a future surge in closures.

Liberal Democrat Health and Social Care spokesperson Helen Morgan MP said:

“Pharmacies provide a lifeline to communities, allowing people to receive the care they need without being forced to endure the 8am scramble for a GP or the dangerously long waits for hospital admission. As these pharmacy deserts become normalised we risk putting hospitals already on the brink under even more pressure, adding to the misery so many patients have had to suffer unnecessarily.

“The Conservatives shameful neglect brought us to this point but the Labour government’s decision to hammer pharmacies once again with their damaging jobs tax risks making the situation so much worse.

“With so many pharmacies already having gone to the wall and with many more at risk of closure, the Government needs to change course. That means exempting pharmacies from their misguided jobs tax to prevent any future surge in closures.

“On May 1st people will have the opportunity to elect a hardworking Liberal Democrat councillor who will stand up for their communities on issues exactly like this and drive forward the change people so desperately want to see.”

ENDS

Notes to Editor:

The research by the House of Commons Library can be found here.

Research by Community Pharmacy England can be found here.

The comments by the National Pharmacy Association can be found here.