Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of pharmacy closures on the quality of primary care in St Albans constituency since 2019.

There were 16 pharmacies on 31 December 2023 in St Albans constituency. Between 31 December 2019 and 31 December 2023, three pharmacies closed in St Albans and no new pharmacies opened. However, access to pharmaceutical services remains good, with 89 percent of the population in St Albans living within a 20 minutes’ walk from a pharmacy. This exceeds the national average of 80 percent. Residents of St Albans can also access services from distance selling pharmacies that operate nationally.

It is the role of local authorities in England to undertake pharmaceutical needs assessments for their areas, every three years, to ensure provision continues to meet their population’s needs. ICBs have regard to those assessments when commissioning services and where a pharmacy closure impacts on the access to services, a new contractor can apply to open a pharmacy in the area.