Ashley Cohen had nothing but taking out two loans last year to keep the doors of his three pharmacies open.
“This year alone I have had to borrow an extra £ 125,000 to keep me going, and it’s just for my small group of pharmacies … to meet my responsibility for staff and cost pressure that I have received in the power of fiscal year, ”the Yorkshire-based pharmacist told The independent.
“There will be a point where I cannot continue to borrow, remortgage house, attack pension pots or put money into a company or a profession that is not appreciated. And I may have to say at some point that the doors have to be closed. “
“I’m on borrowed time and I’m not the only one,” he added.
Mr. Cohen is one of thousands of pharmacists throughout the United Kingdom, who is growing more and more concerned about the future of the industry after years of financing stagnation.
The government is currently negotiating contracts for 2024/25 and 2025/26 with pharmacists, but there are serious concerns that many cannot continue without a serious injection of cash.
They are also stiffened for a “rock edge” in April, when the total increases in national living wages and national insurance contributions come into force, such as the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) estimates will cost pharmacies throughout the UK, a combined £ 310 million.
NPA’s chair, Nick Kaye, said it will come on top of 40 percent cut in real terms for pharmacy financing in the last decade.
“From April 1, there will be a huge increase in liquidity. You cannot remain flat for six years and increase national insurance and vibrant wages and handle everything that is pharmacies will start running out of cash, ”said Mr. Kaye.
“Someone described it to me that the ending is coming slowly and at once, and it starts in April. People will see pharmacies closely and access to medicine and health advice is reduced. “
With the end of the financial year that is fast approaching, he warned that NPA can be left with “Little Choice than recommending collective action” to help the industry survive.
The company’s Chemistry Association Manager for Politics, Dr. Nick Thayer said 90 percent of the pharmacy’s work was done on behalf of the NHS, but core financing for community pharmacy has fallen into real terms by more than £ 1 billion. Since 2025/16.
According to the old contract, the NHS financing for the pharmacies had remained at £ 2.6 billion. Since 2017/18 after two years of cuts in financing.
This means that the fixed amount that pharmacies receive for dispensing of each medicine has not increased in almost 11 years despite the cost of many drugs that rise and an increase in the total prescription during this period and heaps the financial burden For pharmacies in the community.
“Each pharmacy in England now faces an annual financing deficit of at least £ 100,000,” Dr. Thayer.
“We have seen the closure of over 1,200 pharmacies since 2017 – with several closures that occur in more deprived areas.
“We urge the government to tackle the huge increases in costs facing pharmacies, such as the increase in national insurance contributions. The sector must have the financing they need to protect patients’ access to medication ”.
Mr. Cohen said without a serious increase in funding that there will be a domino effect of pharmacies closing around the country as a pharmacy closure puts extra pressure on the resources of other nearby pharmacies who are already struggling to stay above the water.
“I think there can be a tsunami of closures,” said Mr Cohen.
Pharmacy is the latest sector that warns about the impact of Chancellor Rachel Reeve’s budget decision to increase employers’ national insurance contributions from the start of the coming financial year.
Over the past week, a conservative MP warned that it could succumb front line, and a kindergarten peak warned that parents could be postponed to pay another 10 percent fees to cover the cost of increased national insurance contributions.
The Chartered Institute of Personal and Development said the tax increase has also asked for extensive plans to cut employment and increase redundancies.
A spokesman for health and social care said: “Community Pharmacy has an important role to play when we shift focus on NHS out of hospitals and into society through our 10-year health plan.
“We will collaborate with the sector by better utilizing pharmacists and pharmacy technicians’ ability to build a service that suits the future, and we are currently consulting with Community Pharmacy England about funding.”