NHS Strike Adds to Existing Local Pharmacy Problems

In the UK, millions of citizens depend on pharmacies for care each day, however over 90% of neighbourhood pharmacies receive their money from the NHS through contractual funding, which has been reduced by a quarter in real terms since 2015.
Graham Phillips, current MD of Manor Pharmacy Group, continued his father’s career legacy by also studying to be a pharmacist.
However, in 2020, he was forced to shut one of his businesses because it was “haemorrhaging money.”
“At that time, I had a reasonable sized group of 10 pharmacies. It nearly took down the whole group of pharmacies. And as a result, I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.”
Following another child’s death in Sussex, pharmacies have shared growing concerns over their inability to source essential drugs such as Amoxicillin to treat Strep A. Lack of treatment resulting in infection has been the cause of 16 deaths so far.
A major player in the pharmaceutical sector said that the price of Amoxicillin has increased from 80p to £18, even though the government continue to claim that there are “sufficient” inventories, allaying worries of a countrywide scarcity.
In England, there are now 3,000 fewer community pharmacists than needed, with part of the blame attributed to subpar NHS recruiting.
According to Mr. Harrison, the industry has experienced “a 36% upload in workload” despite real term capital reductions, so effectively employees are being asked to perform more with less resources.
A Department of Health & Social Care official reacted to community pharmacies’ concerns by saying, “We commit almost £2.6bn annually to support their vital work and improve integration in the NHS.

“In September, we announced a further £100m investment in the sector and commissioned services to enable pharmacies to manage routine oral contraception without a GP prescription, take minor illness and urgent medicine supply referrals from A&E and provide extra support for patients newly prescribed anti-depressants.”
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