Funding cutbacks have forced Northern Ireland pharmacies to slash jobs as many struggle to pay bills, Community Pharmacy Northern Ireland (CPNI) has said.

A CPNI survey revealed 100 contractors had cut 125 jobs between them since June, when funding cuts came into force. And 70 per cent of the contractors were struggling to meet wholesaler payments, while 60 per cent reported that patients were receiving their medicines late as a result.

The cuts, which saw pharmacy funding cut by a third in June, had had a "devastating impact" and could force some pharmacies to close, CPNI warned.

The slashes to funding are being scrutinised in a judicial review, which will decide whether they have been fairly implemented.

CPNI chief executive Gerard Greene stressed: "These cutbacks are unworkable, leaving many with no other choice but to lay off staff and cut back on services in an attempt to survive."

 "At a time when the emphasis within the health service is to shift patient care into the community, it defies logic that many pharmacies that help maintain patients within the community now face closure," Mr Greene added.

But health minister Edwin Poots criticised CPNI's reaction to the cuts. "I regret that CPNI felt it necessary to seek a judicial review in the first instance," he told the Northern Ireland Assembly on October 25. "Having come into this [ministerial] post in May, I haven't had the opportunity to engage with CPNI and I do think that meaningful discussions could have led to a situation where this matter was resolved by now, rather than being dragged out."

Northern Ireland pharmacist Terry Maguire argued that the health minister should have taken action before the judicial review.

 "There was an opportunity before the judicial review kicked in when the minister could have talked to us," he stressed. "I think the minister is now hiding behind the judicial review in a way but, having said that, we do need to resolve this and resolve it quickly."

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