Thousands of pharmacies are being forced to stop providing NHS and public health services amid increasing financial and operational pressures, new polling from Community Pharmacy England (CPE) has revealed.

In a poll of pharmacy owners representing more than 2,100 pharmacies across England, the majority (96%) said they had stopped delivering locally commissioned services over the past 12 months. This could include minor ailments services that build on the national Pharmacy First service.

Almost a third (30%) said they had to stop provision of advanced services – such as the New Medicine Service or vaccinations – due to a lack of time or resource.

Some 81% of pharmacies had stopped offering extended opening hours, while 31% said they had halted recruiting staff or filling vacancies.

In 90% of pharmacies, owners have also had to stop employing locum pharmacists, and more than 20% said they had had to put an end to the free delivery of prescription medicines to patients.

CPE said it was concerned that GP collective action – where they will be working-to-rule – would exacerbate pressures, as people turn to their local pharmacies for help.

CPE chief executive Janet Morrison cited a 30% real terms funding reduction and ‘spiralling costs’ within the sector.

‘Across England patients and local communities are paying the price of our collapsing community pharmacy network, as thousands of pharmacies have been left with no choice but to reduce the services that they can offer,’ she said.

She added: ‘We will continue to fight for fair funding for community pharmacies across England, using a range of tactics including political and public influencing.’

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: ‘The NHS is broken, and pharmacies have been undervalued for too long.

‘This government will shift the focus of the NHS out of hospitals and into the community.

‘We will expand the role of pharmacies making better use of pharmacists’ skills, including accelerating the rollout of independent prescribing and establishing a Community Pharmacist Prescribing Service.’

It was revealed last week that further delays to the community pharmacy contract were causing stress, uncertainty and further closures.

Meanwhile, GPs have also voted to take collective action this month – where practices will pick and chose from a range of actions proposed by the British Medical Association (BMA).

In June, The Pharmacist mapped community pharmacy closures across England over the last five years, and uncovered a net loss of more than 1,000 bricks and mortar pharmacies since 2019.

The CPE June 2024 poll was answered by 92 respondents. Results have been weighted to reflect the number of pharmacies impacted, which in this case was 2,114.