Four pharmacies closed in Lewisham last year, making it the worst borough for pharmacy care in London, NHS Business Services Authority data revealed.
Analysis of the data by the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) revealed 15.6 prescribing dispensaries in Lewisham per 100,000 people, a decline from 17 dispensaries in 2022-23.
Tower Hamlets had the second lowest provision of care, dropping from 16.1 to 15.8 per 100,000 people.
Jane*, a Lewisham resident with severe asthma, said: “There is only one pharmacy left in my local area and it’s a lifeline for me as an asthmatic. The pharmacy closures across Lewisham are a huge worry.
“With my long working hours, there is only just enough time to pick up my lifesaving prescriptions from the local pharmacy before it closes.
“Any more closures and I don’t know what I’ll do.”
Zoe Tompkins, 24, a Lewisham resident, said: “I suffer with chronic pain and it’s already difficult for me to pick up my medication so it would be near impossible to travel further afield.
“The idea of my local pharmacy closing makes me sad and anxious because it’s not only a pillar of the community but it’s fundamental for people who are already struggling enough.”
Patients are ‘like family’
Tulshi, a pharmacist at Sheel Pharmacy in Lewisham - the last remaining pharmacy local to Jane and Zoe - said the current situation was “one of the worst pharmacies have been in”.
She said: “Our patients are like family. For some of our elderly patients our conversation might be the only one they have that week. It’s not just about medication, it’s about emotional health.
“Pharmacies around us are closing down or having to reduce their hours because they just can't afford to stay open. We stay open. We do 10-hour days. Our workload has increased because patients have nowhere to go.”
She explained that while they are paid around 10p for medication, they have to buy it for one or two pounds, and the “cost builds up”.
“Independent pharmacies are going out of pocket and not being reimbursed for this,” she emphasised.
Dr Leyla Hannbeck, CEO of the Independent Pharmacies Association said pharmacies are an invaluable part of the “structure of the community”.
“Pharmacies are much more than just a place where you go and pick up your medicines. In many areas pharmacies know minority languages. They've at the heart of communities, and have been serving the community for a long long time. Everyone knows who they are.”
Pharmacies ‘set up to fail’
Four pharmacies shut permanently every week in England last year, according to the NPA’s analysis of NHS Business Services Authority data.
The analysis found 222 pharmacies closed their doors in 2024, the second highest annual closure rate on record, second to 2023 which saw 436 closures.
Nearly 700 pharmacies have closed since 2022, leaving England with its lowest number of pharmacies in nearly 20 years.
Community pharmacies receive around 90% of their income from the NHS, but while funding has stagnated costs have risen.
The NPA said pharmacies have been ‘pushed to breaking point’ by 40 per cent real term cuts to their funding, and the ones still open are left ‘hanging on by their fingertips’.
Ian Strachan, former NPA chairman, said the lack of funding was “callous and cruel” for a profession serving a national interest.
He said: “The funding model is deliberately, intentionally designed to see pharmacies close. Pharmacists are using their own savings or going into debt to stay open.
“We want to provide service. We want to stay open. We want to meet the needs of our patients. But we are caught in a trap and set up to fail. It's not even about making a profit - it's about just trying to break even and avoid the losses.
“We allow people to stay living independently in their own homes for longer. How on earth do you start to put a price on that?
“When pharmacies are gone they’re gone forever.”
Healthwatch found that 417 pharmacies closed temporarily across London in 2023, with 56 pharmacies closing permanently.
The total hours of temporary closure across London amounted to 1,328.
North West London saw the highest number of permanent closures, with 18, while North East London faced the greatest number of temporary closures, 118.
Pharmacists struggling to cope
Around three quarters of pharmacists have considered leaving their job or the pharmacy profession, with many citing burnout as a key factor, according to a 2024 Royal Pharmaceutical Society survey, as reported by Chemist and Druggist.
Alison Jones, director of policy & communications at the Pharmacists’ Defence Association, told SE Londoner a “severe workforce crisis” has meant many pharmacists are leaving, which is “detrimental” to patient care.
She said: “All patients should be able to access NHS community pharmacy services safely and conveniently.
“Closures of pharmacies, even temporarily, can lead to concern and inconvenience for vulnerable patients when the services they have come to depend upon are no longer there.
“This can also put pressure on service levels and impact the well-being of teams that are trying to absorb the additional workload, often without additional resources.”
She stressed the urgent need to resolve the staffing crisis and address funding.
Shilpa Shah, CEO of Community Pharmacy North East London emphasised the severity of the stress pharmacists are under: “I've been a pharmacist in community for 25 years. This is the worst I've seen it.”
Pharmacy care and health inequalities
Shah told SE Londoner: “If we lose pharmacies, we're going to lose that easy contact, that community feel, and that is definitely going to lead to wider health inequalities as the rest of the NHS is becoming more digital, which is often an issue in deprived areas.
"Community pharmacy offers that face-to-face, no-appointment-needed access.”
She stressed the importance of trust between pharmacists and patients in deprived areas like Tower Hamlets, noting how this vital relationship is being eroded by pharmacy closures.
“In areas where there is a high Bengali population for example, often women are worried about sharing their health concerns, particularly around sexual health, and they may know we have to keep everything confidential. When their local pharmacy closes, they may not know who they can trust,” she said.
Malcolm Harrison, Company Chemists’ Association chief executive, emphasised that while the healthcare needs of a population are often greater in deprived areas, healthcare is often harder to access, a phenomenon known as ‘the inverse care law’.
“Pharmacies have traditionally bucked this phenomenon, with more pharmacies located in areas of higher deprivation, but the rate of pharmacy closures shows no sign of stopping and this will ultimately undermine efforts to reverse health inequalities,” he said.
He said community pharmacies are a “critical” part of the local healthcare landscape, and “desperately” need funding to survive.
Hannbeck said: “It’s unfair. It’s devaluing one of the oldest professions. If they’re not careful how they manage this, the profession will go under.”
The NHS and Department of Health and Social Care were contacted for comment.
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