Catherine McKinnell, MP for Newcastle North, has called on the Government to step back from punitive cuts to community pharmacy funding which threaten local services across the North East.

Ministers have recently confirmed that community pharmacies will face a 12% cut on current funding levels for the rest of this financial year, and a 7.4% cut on current levels the year after, which the former pharmacies Minister estimated earlier this year could result in up to 3,000 – or a quarter – of all local pharmacies closing as a result.

The Government has announced a Pharmacy Access Scheme (PhAS) to ease the burden of cuts on areas where there are fewer pharmacies and higher health needs, but this scheme will only provide support to a small minority of local chemists.

In Newcastle North, just one out of 16 community pharmacies – or 6% – will be eligible for PhAS support, whilst this figure stands at only 80 of the 621 community pharmacies across the North East.

Speaking during an Opposition Day debate on the issue in Parliament yesterday, Catherine said:

‘Over the past few years, a significant amount of work has been put into the Think Pharmacy First campaign, the aim of which is to take pressure off GPs, ambulances and A & E services, but is ‘Think Pharmacy First for cuts and closures’ really what the Government have in mind?’

She went on to state:

‘I want to make this point to the Minister: the closure of community pharmacies will clearly lead to a poorer service, a loss of patient choice and poorer health outcomes for those in more deprived parts of the country. Is this not just another example of Government short-term cuts that will cost us more in the long-term?’

The Newcastle North MP, who has repeatedly lobbied Ministers on this issue over the last year and met with local pharmacists in Westminster ahead of yesterday’s debate, later commented:

‘Community pharmacists work incredibly hard across Newcastle to provide face-to-face advice, support and preventative care to patients – which actually saves the NHS money in the long term. Of course, many of those using these services are elderly, disabled or have long-term health conditions.

‘We all know that many GPs, A&E services and paramedics are at breaking point, yet the obvious outcome of local pharmacies being shut down is that the pressure on these services will get even worse.

‘The Government must step back from these totally short-sighted cuts, which will have serious consequences both for local communities and the wider NHS.’