Industry leaders have hit out at the Northern Ireland government for "turning its back" on the pharmacy sector. The government's decision to slash pharmacy funding by a third could "devastate" the pharmacy network, said AAH and Numark.

Numark called on Northern Ireland health minister Edwin Poots to recognise the impact of the cuts, which have seen job losses across the sector.

"If the CPNI's revelations of 125 pharmacy workers losing their jobs won't make Mr Poots sit up and take notice, will we seriously have to wait for the first pharmacy to close its doors… before the realisation that a cost of service inquiry would be far more effective than the current ‘survival of the fittest' model?" asked Numark membership services manager Wayne Harrison.

Mr Harrison added that patients faced a "very real probability" that local pharmacies would close, forcing them to travel miles to their nearest pharmacy. "At a time when other UK governments are investing in pharmacy services and taking steps to make best use of pharmacy, the Northern Ireland Assembly is turning its back on [the sector] and, in doing so, putting vital local services at risk and denying patients the benefit of an enhanced pharmaceutical service," he argued.

AAH also warned of the potential impact on the pharmacy network. "If Mr Poots gets his way, the community pharmacy network will be devastated with one in five closures and an insecure future for those remaining," said AAH group managing director Mark James.

Mr James also hit out at Mr Poots' comments that the drug spend was getting "out of hand" in Northern Ireland. "He has fallen into the trap of regarding purchase profit as something extra to which pharmacists are somehow not entitled," he said.

"When [Mr Poots] talks about the cost of pharmacy, he is presenting a distorted picture," Mr James argued. "Each year interventions in pharmacies prevent patients ending up in hospital for hugely expensive procedures."

Mr James added: "It appears Mr Poots is more concerned about spending £1 on a statin than he is spending £15,000 on a heart bypass operation."

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