There is an urgent need to stem the tide of rising pharmacy closures, the Pharmacists’ Defence Association (PDA) said in a note.
PDA members have reported their experience of pharmacies closing despite there being cover available.
It added the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) seems to be completely unprepared for this scenario as its modus operandi covers individual pharmacists, while corporate pharmacy gets away with closures on the premise of ‘lack of pharmacists’.
The situation in community pharmacy is no different.
“It was only a matter of time before pharmacists, including locums, turned their backs on a sector bedevilled by corporate greed, poor pay, demotivated staff, increasing workplace pressure, excessive workload, paper-pushing to the detriment of patient-facing roles and clinical outcomes…the list goes on,” the PDA said.
Earlier as well, the PDA has highlighted this issue and expressed concerns over avoidable pharmacy closures.
On August 10, the association reported more than 50 closures with a mix of full day and part-day closings.
