A BITTER PILL FOR LIFELINE PHARMACIES
Strike alert as they face funding crisis
PHARMACISTS are threatening to strike because Boris Johnson refuses to pay them for their lifesaving work during the pandemic.
An audit will tomorrow show they are freeing up 492,000 GP visits a week by giving free advice to patients.
They routinely offer face-to-face consultations – while doctors see eight in 10 patients remotely. And they reduce typical surgery workloads by 65 patient appointments each.
Pharmacists spot deadly symptoms in patients too scared to go to hospital.
They were swamped in lockdown by people who suffered minor injuries.
As the Mirror launches a campaign to save local chemists, a survey by the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee found 57,000 people went to drug stores rather than trouble A&E or a walk-in centre during lockdown. Pharmacists say it takes them 75 minutes a day to see those extra customers – in turn, saving the NHS £780million each year.
PSNC chief executive Simon Dukes said: “Pharmacists are fed up with being taken for granted and many talk about strike action. They feel it’s the only way ministers will understand the work and financial pressures they’re under.”
Others want to introduce charges for blood pressure checks and medicine home delivery. Pharmacists get £2.6billion a year – 90 per cent of income – to dispense NHS prescriptions and deal with 111 referrals.
But they have suffered £250million in cuts since 2016 and funding will be frozen until 2024. By then, a report by accountants Ernst & Young warns, 72 per cent of pharmacies will be down £43,000 a year – forcing thousands to close. Pharmacists get £ 1.27 per prescription and £14 per patient sent by NHS 111. They source medicines with tight margins.
The Department of Health said: “We will carefully consider the findings of the report.”