Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of changes in spending on community pharmacies on the number of such pharmacies in Greater Manchester.

Following the implementation of the reforms, access to pharmaceutical services remains good with 88% of the population within a 20 minutes’ walk of a community pharmacy. The number of community pharmacies remains similar to pre-December 2016 levels.

In Greater Manchester there are currently 710 community pharmacies with 32 protected under the new Pharmacy Access Scheme (PhAS) from the full effect of the funding cuts. The PhAS supports pharmacies in areas where there are fewer pharmacies.

The Department is monitoring pharmacy numbers to assess the effect of the community pharmacy reforms.