Pharmacies across the country are paying out of their own pockets to serve patients.

That’s the warning from community pharmacies as the National Pharmacy Association holds a second day of ‘soft’ action today, September 19, to raise awareness.

Their #SaveOurPharmacies campaign is being fully supported by Tavyside Pharmacy’s Philip Dawes, in Tavistock.

He said: “We came to the end of our five-year funding period at the end of March this year. We have seen our costs rise dramatically over that time, through the pandemic and now a rise in business overheads and costs generally.

“Nationally we’re still trying to secure the next period of funding, with a much needed uplift.”

Typically, the 20th of each month represents the last day of the month covered by NHS funding. From this day on, pharmacy services are subsidised by the business.

He explains pharmacies, which are essentially private contractors to the NHS, are paid for the drugs via a drug tariff set each month by the Government. Very often these tariffs don’t cover the real cost of drugs which have increased in price, partly due to Brexit.

“We then have the situation where we are subsidising the price of the drug for the patient to have it,” he continued.

The lack of an uplift in government funding also means a lack of ability to plan for the future of the service, explained the pharmacist.

“Without an increase in our activity fee and with no uplift in our allowance margin, it’s hard to invest for the future in premises or staff training to improve our service to the public.”

His words are echoed by the National Pharmacy Association who calling for local communities to support their call to #SaveOurPharmacies.

They have warned that rural areas could become pharmacy deserts if current closure rates of ten pharmacies a week across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, continue.

Many pharmacies are reducing opening hours and cutting staff in order to survive.

This comes at a time when the NHS is advising anyone using NHS services to Think Pharmacy First, as we head into autumn and winter which are times of increased demand.

NHS Devon’s pharmacy workforce lead, David Bearman, said: “We are undertaking a series of measures to safeguard community pharmacies, including reviewing the local Pharmaceutical Needs Assessments in partnership with local authorities, more details of which will be provided in our pharmacy strategy, which is currently being produced and is due to be published later this year.”

MP for Torridge and Tavistock, Sir Geoffrey Cox said: “I remain deeply concerned at any prospect of further closures of pharmacies within Torridge and Tavistock. This is a matter I’ve discussed at length with the chair of the Devon Integrated Care Board.

“I want to acknowledge the valuable and skilled work undertaken by pharmacists throughout the constituency. Our pharmacies do much more than dispense medicine – they play a vital role in our communities, offering easy access within rural areas, particularly to those with limited mobility.”