West Berkshire is the country’s ‘pharmacy desert’, with the fewest pharmacies available per patient.
The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has disclosed alarming figures on pharmacy closure in England, attributing them to the impact of funding cuts.
According to NPA analysis of NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) data, 222 pharmacies permanently closed their doors in 2024, marking the second-highest annual closure rate on record.
This equates to an average of four pharmacies closing each week.
Nearly 90 per cent of council areas have seen at least one pharmacy shut permanently in just the last two years.
NPA chair Nick Kaye voiced concern that pharmacies have been “pushed to breaking point” by 40 per cent real terms cuts to their budgets and the ones still open are left “hanging on by their fingertips” and could be forced to close without “an urgent increase in their funding.”
“It is patients that have lost out the most, with more people in isolated areas having to travel further for vital medication as well as access to medical advice convenient to them,” he said.
Areas with the highest pharmacy closure rates
West Berkshire has seen the highest rate of pharmacy closures per capita in the last two years, surpassing Plymouth.
Plymouth and Liverpool rank second and third, respectively.
The NPA report identifies West Berkshire as the country’s ‘pharmacy desert’, with the lowest number of pharmacies available per patient.
Wokingham, Bracknell Forest and Oxfordshire were also among the top six areas for pharmacy deserts.
Cornwall, one of the most rural council areas with highly isolated patients, ranks among the top 10 areas in the country for pharmacy closures, with nine shutting down in the past two years.
The NPA highlighted that nearly 700 pharmacies have closed since 2022, leaving England with its lowest number of pharmacies in nearly 20 years.
These closures have intensified pressures on neighbouring pharmacies, significantly raising workload and staffing costs without proper renumeration.
The association, which represents independent pharmacies, is calling on the government to urgently start consultations on this year’s pharmacy funding settlement to avoid the potential of the first ‘work to rule’ style action in history.
“We’ve given the Government ample time to respond to the very clear expression of professional concern expressed in our ballot – now’s the time to come up with a sensible settlement and a clear roadmap to the reform we all want to see,” Kaye added.
The NPA has outlined five tests that any deal funding package from the government must meet.
Sukhi Basra