Prescription Drugs

(asked on 31st January 2023) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the impact of pharmacy closures on the (a) access to and (b) availability of prescription medicine.


Answered by
Neil O'Brien Portrait
Neil O'Brien
This question was answered on 7th February 2023

The Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework 2019-24 five-year deal commits £2.592 billion each year to the sector. In September 2022, following negotiation with the sector, we announced a one-off £100million investment into pharmacy for the remainder of the five-year deal.

The Department closely monitors the market and is working in partnership with NHS England and local authorities to evaluate the effect of closures on patient access. In England, access to NHS pharmaceutical services is good with 80 per cent of the population living within 20 minutes walking distance of a community pharmacy. The Pharmacy Access Scheme supports patient access and provision in areas where there are fewer community pharmacies by providing additional payments to pharmacies whose closure would have the greatest impact on patient access.

As part of the agreement announced in September, NHS England committed to working with the sector to undertake an independent economic analysis of NHS pharmaceutical services. This review will help inform the negotiation of the future contractual framework for community pharmacy.

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