Pharmacy numbers at lowest stage for nearly 20 years

The number of pharmacies is at the lowest level in almost 20 years with seven a week closing so far this year, industry leaders warn.

More than 1,500 have closed in England since 2015, leaving just 10,054 open, according to analysis by the National Pharmacy Association (NPA).

At this rate, numbers could fall below 10,000 for the first time since 2005, when there were 9,872, it adds.

Workload has drastically increased in recent decades, with community pharmacies dispensing 56 per cent more prescriptions now than in 2006.

Local pharmacies are under threat due to increasing workloads and the rise of online chemists

But the trade body warns the soaring cost of medicine combined with 40 per cents to budgets is leaving many unviable.

It is urging health secretary Wes Streeting to do more to help halt closures and cuts to opening hours.

Paul Rees, chief executive of the NPA, said: ‘2005 saw the launch of YouTube, McFly making number one in the charts, and George W Bush inaugurated for his second term as US president.

‘Now is not the time to allow a vital part of NHS local services to decline to levels not seen since the dawn of social media.

‘This is a vital opportunity to halt the closures and invest in community pharmacies, which provide prescriptions, clinical services and health support to neighbourhoods up and down the country.

‘Preventing the ongoing collapse of community pharmacy will help to cut waiting times for GPs, provide better immediate care for patients and keep the front door to the NHS open.’

The Government said pharmacies have been ‘neglected’ for years 

 Separate analysis of pharmacy opening hours by the NPA found 63 per cent of pharmacies had cut their opening hours since 2015, with just 2.5 per cent increasing hours in the same period.

In 2015, pharmacies were open for an average of 54.2 hours a week compared to 48.1 hours in 2024, according to the NPA.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: ‘This Government inherited a broken NHS and pharmacies have been neglected for years.

‘We are monitoring closures closely.

‘Pharmacies are key to our plans to make healthcare fit for the future, as we shift the focus of the NHS out of hospitals and into the community.

‘We will expand the role of pharmacies – making better use of pharmacists’ skills, including accelerating the rollout of independent prescribing.