High street pharmacists are warning their businesses face the threat of closure if Andy Burnham and the Labour Government don't step in, because unlike GP practices and NHS dental surgeries their business rates are not reimbursed.
Pharmacists say they are delivering vital NHS care on the high street but are taxed like ordinary shops. The Independent Pharmacies Association (IPA) is pushing for business rates costs linked to delivering NHS services to be paid back.
Call for fair treatment
They argue the disparity with the treatment of GPs and dentists is “not fair” as they take on more NHS work and are the “first port of call for millions of patients”. They further state that they have been denied the type of help with business rates the Government has provided for pubs.
Services provided by community pharmacies now include vaccinations, contraception and blood pressure checks at a time of rising staffing and energy costs. The IPA reports that around 650 high street pharmacies closed last year, with more than 1,500 pharmacies “disappearing” from England over the past decade.
Industry and government response
Leyla Hannbeck, the IPA’s chief executive, said: “The current system is simply unfair. Pharmacies are delivering NHS care from the high street, yet they are expected to absorb business rates costs that other NHS primary care providers have reimbursed. You cannot ask pharmacies to do more and more for the NHS while continuing to treat them like ordinary retailers. They are the front door of the NHS for millions of people and an essential part of our local healthcare infrastructure. The Government has found ways to support pubs and other high-street businesses with business rates, yet pharmacies delivering vital NHS care have been left to carry these costs themselves. That is simply not fair.”
She warned that “every closure takes another local healthcare service away from patients,” adding: “If pharmacies are delivering NHS care, the cost of the premises from which they deliver that care should be properly recognised and reimbursed. We need a fair deal for pharmacy and we need it now.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Pharmacies play a vital role in our communities, providing accessible healthcare on people’s doorstep and they are central to our 10-year health plan. To support the sector, we have invested an extra £340million this year into community pharmacy, one of the largest uplifts across the NHS. This uplift, agreed by Community Pharmacy England, reflects increasing costs facing community pharmacies, as well as the valuable additional services they are providing.”
Recent closures and impact
The call for reform of business rates comes on the heels of a warning by the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) that 51 pharmacies closed in England in the first eight months of the year, with around 280,000 people affected. It highlighted the closure of a pharmacy in Long Rock, Penzance, Cornwall claiming patients were left with a one hour-long, 20-mile journey by public transport to get to the nearest pharmacy on a Sunday.
