Data provided by NHS Health Boards in Wales has enabled the PDA to identify the difference in closure rates between types of pharmacy businesses. By comparing the reported closures of those largest community pharmacy chains, the eight members of the Company Chemists’ Association (CCA), against other pharmacy owners, a significant difference has been highlighted.
For ease of comparison to Scotland’s pharmacies, the data relating to the first five months of 2022 has been analysed in detail.
Official figures show that during the first five months of 2022 (1 January to 31 May), non-CCA member pharmacies reported 59 occasions across Wales that they had to close due to unforeseen events. The PDA fully understands that genuine unforeseen circumstances may sometimes occur that cause unexpected closures, such as last-minute sickness, power cuts, extreme weather, etc. The PDA, therefore, accepts at face value that the closures reported by these independent pharmacies and smaller chains were necessary and unavoidable.
All community pharmacy businesses face the same overall weather conditions and are impacted by the same external factors, such as the pandemic. All pharmacies operate in the same market, with the same pharmacy contract with the NHS, the same regulations, and recruit staff or engage locums from the same employment markets. If there were a national shortage of pharmacists, it would surely impact on all types of pharmacy owners too. Therefore, the PDA would expect unforeseen circumstances to impact CCA members in similar proportions to their ownership of community pharmacies.
Based on the number of pharmacies owned in Wales (53% CCA/47% non-CCA), it would be proportionate if the CCA members had reported closures due to similar levels of genuine reasons on 67 full or part-day occasions during that same five-month period.
However, the data shows that there were actually 1,161 reported closures of CCA member pharmacies in Wales over that period. This means that if a patient’s local pharmacy was operated by a CCA member, it was more than 17 times as likely to be closed to patients for at least part of the day, than if their local pharmacy owner was a non-CCA member.
It is important to note that while all CCA members are headquartered in England, this data relates to Wales only and so cannot be blamed on poor funding or previous bad policy decisions provided by NHS England. This information relates only to communities in Wales, where the provision of a community pharmacy is covered by a separate contract.
The PDA believes that Eluned Morgan, the Welsh Health Secretary needs to take urgent action to prevent unnecessary closures.
The PDA has now been able to analyse data for Scotland and Wales. However, NHS England and Improvement has still not been forthcoming with information requested under Freedom of Information (FOI).
This has resulted in the PDA asking the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to investigate. Should NHSE release the data, as their peers have already done in Scotland and Wales, then the PDA will undertake a similar analysis. For more information about this, click here.
Learn more
- Data shows largest multiples close more than fifteen times more often than other owners in Scotland
- Eluned Morgan must protect patients from unnecessary pharmacy closures
- PDA publish open letter demanding action on patient safety concerns around pharmacy closures
- Locums told accept lower rates or be cancelled
- Closures damage pharmacy
- Comment on evidence provided to the Health Select Committee
- Systemic closure of pharmacies
- Safer Pharmacies Survey 2021
- Experience of Scottish Locum pharmacists
- Closures: Pharmacist concerns about patient harm and impact on the NHS
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