Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of community pharmacy closures on patient access to NHS services in deprived areas.

The Government recognises that pharmacies are an integral part of the fabric of our communities, as an easily accessible front door to the National Health Service, staffed by highly trained and skilled healthcare professionals.

We are aware of the reduction in the number of pharmacies in recent years and recognise that pharmacy closures can impact on local communities. Despite closures in recent years, access to pharmacies continues to be better in the most deprived areas when compared with the least deprived. Local authorities are required to undertake a pharmaceutical needs assessment (PNA) every three years to assess whether their population is adequately served and must keep these assessments under review. Integrated care boards give regard to the PNAs when reviewing applications from the new contractors. Contractors can also apply to open a new pharmacy to offer benefits to patients that were not foreseen by the PNA.

The Pharmacy Access Scheme provides additional funding to further support pharmacies where another pharmacy is more than 0.8 miles in the most deprived areas and more than one mile in other areas. Additionally, in rural areas where there is no pharmacy, general practitioners are permitted to dispense medicines. Patients can also choose to access medicines and pharmacy services through any of the nearly 400 NHS online pharmacies that are contractually required to deliver prescription medicines free of charge to patients.