Revealed: Almost 47,000 hours lost to temporary pharmacy closures last year

In 2023 alone, some 46,823 hours were lost to temporary closure – the equivalent of 5,852 standard pharmacy working days, new data from 41 of England’s 42 integrated care boards (ICBs) has revealed.

The figures, collated via Freedom of Information request by Healthwatch England, show that a total of 13,863 instances of temporary closures were recorded by ICBs between January 1 and December 31 last year.

The statutory body found “a significant variation” in temporary closures across England, with the number of instances ranging from “70 in South East London ICB to 1,438 in the North East and North Cumbria ICB”.

However, it said that calculating the closure hours per pharmacy for each ICB revealed that Norfolk and Waveney had the most hours closed temporarily per pharmacy – a staggering 17.48 in 2023.

ICBs in rural areas and those “with a higher proportion of people over 60 years of age” recorded more “hours closed per pharmacy” than ICBs “in predominantly urban areas”, the report added.

Calls Pharmacy First “into doubt”

Healthwatch recommended that patients should “be better notified of pharmacy closures and for pharmacy teams to be supported by improved contingency plans”.

It said that NHSE England (NHSE) and ICBs should “support” pharmacy teams to provide “real-time information of temporary closures”.

“This could be through the NHS App, NHS website, SMS platforms and local GP and pharmacy websites,” it added.

It also called for “a national evaluation to consider issues facing pharmacy, including workforce, funding, data and estates”.

“Staff shortages, the key driver of permanent and temporary closures, call into doubt the potential of Pharmacy First,” Healthwatch England chief executive Louise Ansari said.

“Action must be taken to address staff shortages and unequal access,” she stressed.

“Desperate”

Community Pharmacy England (CPE) chief executive Janet Morrison deemed the report “yet more evidence showing just how desperate the situation for pharmacies has now become”.

She called for pharmacy core funding to be “urgently” uplifted, adding that “without this stabilisation we can expect the trend of pharmacy closures to continue, with a risk of the sector collapsing under the strain”.

Commenting on the data, National Pharmacy Association (NPA) chief executive Paul Rees echoed her point, stressing that “if the government wants to cut GP waiting times – and free up GPs to see patients with more serious conditions – it needs to invest in community pharmacy.”

And Company Chemists’ Association (CCA) chief executive Malcolm Harrison said that the pharmacy body hopes “that the forthcoming budget and next year’s 10-year health plan and comprehensive spending reviews delivers additional investment” to the sector.

"Warnings of pharmacy closures must be taken seriously to ensure patients can continue to access a resilient pharmacy network," Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) England board chair Tase Oputu added.

Last week, the NPA revealed plans to ballot its members for the very first time on work to rule action, which could see “a lot” of pharmacies shutting on Saturdays by the end of the year.

It came as the body launched its second day of protest action, which continued its message “that the pharmacy funding model is broken, closures are unacceptable [and] the workforce crisis is hitting community pharmacies and their patients”.

Meanwhile in January, the Pharmacists’ Defence Association (PDA) revealed that it was continuing to see examples of community pharmacies closing due to a lack of staff, despite being aware “of a specific individual available to cover the shift”.

At the time, it urged pharmacists to use the union’s template to “raise concerns and formally report” similar situations directly to NHSE or the relevant health board in the devolved nations.