Key Summary
- A decade-long funding cut discourages most pharmacy owners from remaining open for 100 hours a week.
- This is causing inconvenience to patients and sometimes even puts their lives in danger.
- The early closure of pharmacies also limits access to those who return home late from work or studies.
There has been a steep fall in the number of pharmacies remaining open late at night in England over the last three years, leaving patients with fewer options and forcing them to travel long distances for urgent medicines, the Financial Times reports.
Across the country, only 132 pharmacies, or one in 100, remain open after 9 pm at least one evening a week, down from 10 in 2022, while a mere 24 pharmacies remain open after 11 pm.
There has been a 20 percent fall in chemists remaining open after 6 pm. The data excludes hospital pharmacies.
This is due to a change in rule in 2023, allowing cash-strapped pharmacies to reduce opening hours from 100 hours to 72 hours a week to cut costs.
This is causing inconvenience to patients and sometimes even puts their lives in danger.
The early closure of pharmacies also limits access to those who return home late from work or studies.
The funding cuts that began in 2015 have discouraged pharmacy owners from remaining open for 100 hours a week.
Though pharmacies received a funding of £3.1 billion in 2025-26, a NHS-commissioned study found that it was not enough to fill the funding gap over a decade.
Pharmacy organisations hope the upcoming Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) negotiations will provide the much-needed boost to the sector.
A rise in the National Living Wage and higher business rates during the 2025 Autumn Budget are expected to add millions in extra costs to pharmacy owners.
Community pharmacy leaders were very upset when the Labour government exempted pubs from the 15 percent business rates, while providing no relief to the struggling community pharmacy sector.
