Patients face long journeys for medicines as pharmacies cut weekend hours | NHS
People who need to buy medicine on the weekend are forced to make long journeys as more pharmacies cut their working hours on Saturdays and Sundays.
One in six pharmacies in England have reduced opening hours at weekends since 2022, with some closing completely, due to “unsustainable” pressures on their budgets.
According to the National Board of Pharmacy Association (NPA), outages mean more than 20% of weekend working hours are lost overall, leaving pharmacy services increasingly unavailable.
This has forced some patients to go to the emergency room or urgent care center to get a morning-after pill, get an emergency prescription or get advice on how to treat a minor ailment.
The NPA said rural areas such as Devon, Cornwall and the Lake District were particularly affected, but cities such as Manchester and Leeds had fewer weekend openings.
St Ives in Cornwall used to have three pharmacies, one of which opened at the weekend. However, two of them are closed and the only surviving pharmacy does not operate on Saturday or Sunday. People who need help in the town now have to go to Hayle or Penzance.
Similarly, people in Windermere in Cumbria need to travel 10 miles (16 km), which takes 25 minutes by car or 45 minutes by public transport, to reach the nearest pharmacy open on Sunday.
Patient groups said the trend left people with disabilities, shift workers and those without cars or good public transport connections struggling to access the medications they need on the weekend.
NPA chief executive Olivier Picard said: “This is further evidence that the pharmacy network in England is creaking at the seams after facing deep cuts for several years. Unfortunately, the real losers are the millions of patients these pharmacies serve, particularly those in rural areas, who have to travel long distances or even go to hospital on a Sunday or late at night when they need a prescription or advice for a minor health problem.”
Rebecca Curtayne, head of public affairs at NHS patient watchdog Healthwatch England, said: “People rely on their local pharmacy for timely advice and essential medicines, so cuts to weekend opening hours are very worrying. “We are already hearing from people making longer journeys to find a pharmacy open, especially in rural areas, and this creates real challenges for those with reduced mobility or without access to transport.
“It’s no surprise that some people turn to other parts of the NHS when they can’t get the help they need in their own community.”
The NPA said around 1,550 pharmacies in England have closed completely since 2017, which is a direct result of the government not adequately funding pharmacy services. It was stated that the money they receive from the NHS for distributing prescriptions, providing vaccines and other services has fallen by 40 percent in real terms since 2016, leaving many people unable to provide the working hours they used to.
Patients’ difficulties accessing pharmacy care at the weekend risks undermining the government’s aim to increase community-based care, the Patients’ Association has said. The company’s CEO, Rachel Power, said: “Patients pay the price when pharmacies close their doors or shorten their hours. In some cases, local pharmacies can be the only port of call for patients in need.
“For shift workers, people in poor areas, anyone without a car or good public transport, the local pharmacy is a lifeline that can prevent unnecessary trips to the GP or hospital. When the door to the local pharmacy closes, the door to healthcare often closes with it. This is unacceptable. The government needs the local pharmacy if its ambition to bring care closer to home is to work.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “Community pharmacies are a vital front door to the NHS, which is why this government has given them the biggest increase in funding for any part of the NHS in the last two years – totaling £3.1bn.
“We are currently consulting with Community Pharmacy England on funding arrangements for next year and will continue to ensure hard-working pharmacists can deliver more care to patients closer to home as part of our 10-year health plan.”
