{"id":142905,"date":"2024-09-26T14:43:40","date_gmt":"2024-09-26T13:43:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.politics.co.uk\/?p=142905"},"modified":"2024-09-26T14:44:52","modified_gmt":"2024-09-26T13:44:52","slug":"eight-pharmacies-closing-every-week-in-england","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politics.co.uk\/data\/2024\/09\/26\/eight-pharmacies-closing-every-week-in-england\/","title":{"rendered":"Eight pharmacies closing every week in England"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than one pharmacy closed permanently every day in 2023, revealed new data published today.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Between January 1 and December 31, 2023, a total of 436 pharmacies closed, according to Healthwatch England<\/a>, reportedly impacting people\u2019s access to care and undermining confidence in the expansion of pharmacy services.<\/span><\/p>\n

This research comes at a critical time as pharmacies aim to broaden their services through the Pharmacy First initiative, which allows community pharmacies to offer consultations for seven common conditions.<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to permanent closures, the research\u2014conducted via Freedom of Information requests\u2014revealed significant issues caused by temporary closures. Across the 42 Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) in England, there were 13,863 instances of temporary closures, amounting to 46,823 hours or 5,852 standard pharmacy working days lost. The primary reason reported for these temporary closures was a lack of available staff.<\/span><\/p>\n

The research painted a varied picture across England. Higher rates of both permanent and temporary closures were recorded in rural areas, regions with older populations, and areas with fewer GPs per capita.<\/span><\/p>\n