REPORT
Pharmacists are highly qualified and now have more powers to treat patients, so why are they shutting up shop at such an alarming rate?
When their local Boots pharmacy closed in February, residents of Portland, Dorset, were told not to worry – there was another one just under two miles away. Presumably the powers-that-be hadn’t ever set foot on the island, home to 13,500 people. ‘The other one is at the top of a long, steep hill – it’s one hell of a climb,’ says Jo Dolbear, 71. ‘We have a large older population here – many don’t drive and don’t have computers. They need to be able to get their prescriptions. We already had a wait of ten days, and that was before the closure.’
Theirs is a story repeated across the UK. In the past six years more than 1,000 pharmacies have shut up shop in England – about 10% of the total. Last year alone, a record 394 disappeared from high streets. Lloyds has sold all its pharmacies, and Boots announced last year it would close 300 around the UK, including the one at the bottom of the hill on Portland.
Smaller chains and independents are just about clinging on. But it’s often by their fingertips, according to the National Pharmacy Association (NPA), which represents most – around 6,000 – of them. A poll of its members revealed 79% were working without proper pay, 64% were dipping into savings or borrowing from family to stay afloat, and eight in ten said their business simply wasn’t sustainable.
All of this is happening at a time when the government is expanding – and supposedly championing – the role of pharmacists.
Since January in England, people have been able to go into a chemist’s and get treatment (including antibiotics) for a range of common ailments (see right). So, what on earth is going on?
Essentially, pharmacists are making a loss on providing medicines prescribed by the NHS, says Chris Naidu, who owns 11 pharmacies in the South West, from the 120-year-old Leddra Chemist in St Ives, Cornwall, to Penhill in Yeovil, Somerset. ‘I’ve been running into tens of thousands of pounds of debt every month because we’ve bought the drugs for more than we are going to be reimbursed,’ he explains. Add to that rising rent and rates, and increasing salaries and utility bills and you can see how precarious life is. He pays 75 staff but hasn’t taken a proper salary himself for eight months and works 16 hours a day, six days a week. Many chemists have reduced opening hours to save money (legally, they can’t open unless a pharmacist is on site) and have stopped services such as free delivery, for which they get paid nothing. However, Chris is determined to keep delivering to vulnerable customers. ‘We can’t afford it but I am in this profession because I want to help my patients. I have drivers who take patients’ rubbish out when they deliver prescription
