Nearly 50 small pharmacies have still not been told whether NHS England will re-instate their top-up funding, C+D has learned.

The commissioning body told C+D on Thursday (June 25) that 48 out of the 102 "essential" low-volume pharmacies that received funding as part of a national support scheme, which ended on March 31, were still awaiting a final decision.

NHS England's regional teams had rejected five pharmacies’ applications for extra funding, it said.

Only 20 businesses had further funding confirmed, while 28 had returned to the national pharmaceutical list without requesting additional help, NHS England said.

Of the 20 pharmacies that had reached a funding agreement, nine would receive support for a year or less, NHS England said. Five had agreements that lasted between one and two years, while six had agreements of longer than two years, the commissioning body said.

One pharmacy was in the process of being sold, and it was not clear if the new owner would submit a funding proposal, it added.

No pharmacies had closed as a result of the top-up scheme ending, NHS England said.
 

"Considerable hardship"

PSNC director of regulation and support Steve Lutener told C+D that he was aware that NHS England had temporarily extended support to some pharmacies for six months while it decided their funding. But other pharmacies had not received such payments, causing “considerable hardship”, he said.

“We urge NHS England to take immediate action to protect the availability of pharmaceutical services from these essential pharmacies,” he added.

Hassan Khan, owner of Cullimore Chemist in London, told C+D he was still waiting for a decision and had lost “all hope and trust” in NHS England.

Mr Khan had boosted his prescription volumes from 1,600 to 2,000 items per month since December, but was “running out of time” to reach the 2,500 threshold needed to receive establishment payments, he said.

Contractor Roger Kirkbride, of Wymeswold Pharmacy in Berkshire, told C+D he had received a five-year funding contract with NHS England thanks to a high level of public engagement, which left NHS England "in no doubt to what the feeling of the local population was".

Under the agreement, the pharmacy's top-up funding would be phased out over the final three years, which could lead the pharmacy “struggling” to stay open, he added.

In March, C+D launched a campaign to press NHS England for decisions on funding for small pharmacies.

Do you know of any small pharmacies still waiting for a funding decision?

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