New research by YouGov, commissioned for Dispensing Health Equality, published by Pharmacy Voice, shows that, if faced with a closure, more than one in four people (29 per cent) who would normally seek advice first from their local pharmacy on common ailments, would instead make an appointment with their GP practice.
According to NHS research, this rises to as many as four in five people in areas of high deprivation such as Fleetwood in Lancashire.
The government has indicated that its proposals will lead to up to one in four local pharmacies closing. The report argues that an uplift in GP appointments is untenable in any part of the country, but especially so in those areas that find it difficult to attract GPs in the first place.
This will affect communities such as Fleetwood and Easington Lane, a former coal mining village where there is no GP surgery, and just one local pharmacy serving the needs of more than 2,000 people.
The report urges the government to take note of this in context of its proposed funding cuts, and seeks reassurance that in both urban and rural areas of high deprivation access to this much-needed community asset will be protected.
Dr Mark Spencer, a GP in Fleetwood Lancashire, Co-Chair, NHS Alliance, and himself a coal miner’s son, commented, ‘At a time when there is an entirely unacceptable widening gap in life expectancy between rich and poor, extreme pressure on GPs, and increasing public awareness of the role pharmacy is playing in delivering services to support public health, it would be catastrophic if the areas that most need it, are deprived of access to this crucial community asset. Easington Lane and Fleetwood are two cases in point.’
