Many pharmacies in England, Wales and Northern Ireland could cut their opening hours in protest over government funding, if a "work-to-rule" ballot passes. The National Pharmacy Association says its unprecedented ballot of members could mean chemists keeping strictly to the 40 hours a week they are required to open in the government contract. The NPA, which represents about half UK community pharmacies, some 6,000, says 1,500 have closed since 2016 because of workloads and budget cuts.
The Department of Health in England said the previous government had neglected pharmacies for years. The NPA says core government pharmacy funding in England has fallen by 40% after adjusting for inflation, since 2015-16. It has called for an annual £1.
3bn funding increase to plug the “financial hole”. And pharmacists have argued for some time the drug tariff, which covers payments for services and medicines, is failing to cover their costs. NPA chief executive Paul Rees said pharmacies were "being pushed to the brink" by a decade of real-terms cuts.
“Pharmacies are routinely required to dispense NHS medicines at a loss - 1,500 have been forced to close in the past decade, while others have had to cut hours to try and make ends meet," he said. And it was hitting patients hard. Despite pay rises for junior doctors and train drivers since the election, there was no sign of an end to cuts putting pharmacies out of business, Mr Rees added.
Members of the NPA, which is not a trade union, will.