Pharmacy closures: why are pharmacies closing in England and what to do if your pharmacy is shutting down

• More than eight pharmacies are closing in England every week according to an investigation by Healthwatch England.
• They found that 436 pharmacies closed permanently in 2023.
• Older people and those living in rural areas were more likely to be impacted by pharmacy closures.

More than eight pharmacies are closing across England every week, according to a new report by Healthwatch England.

Through freedom of information (FoI) requests, they found that 436 pharmacies closed permanently in England in 2023, with 13,863 temporary closures due to lack of available staff accounting for the equivalent of 142 lost working days.

Those living in areas that were rural or had older populations were more likely to be impacted by pharmacy closures and had fewer GPs per head.

Commenting on the findings, Janet Morrison, chief executive of Community Pharmacy England (CPE), said it shows “just how desperate the situation for pharmacies has now become”.

Morrison continued: “Ongoing financial, operational and workforce pressures are combining to leave pharmacies at crisis point, putting medicines supply and other patient services at serious risk.”

So, why are pharmacies closing in England and what to do if you find out your local pharmacy is closing.

Why are pharmacies closing in England?

The report from Healthwatch England has found that in 2023, 436 pharmacies in England shut their doors. This means that more than one pharmacy on average permanently closed everyday, or just over eight pharmacies closed every week.

According to NHS Business Services Authority, there were 11,414 community pharmacies in England between 2022 to 2023, with Healthwatch finding that almost four per cent of pharmacies in England in 2023 closed permanently.

The cause for the closures is due to rising costs, with the National Pharmacy Association stating in May 2024, that funding had decreased by 40 per cent over the last decade, resulting in the fastest rate of pharmacy closures in decades.

Talking about the figures in May, Paul Rees, Chief Executive of the National Pharmacy Association said: “These latest figures, which are skyrocketing, are absolutely shocking and distressing. Community pharmacies face a perfect storm of rapidly declining levels of real terms government funding and high levels of inflation – which is both increasing the cost of dispensing medicine and pushing many community pharmacies to the brink.”

When it came to temporary pharmacy closures, Healthwatch found that the main cause was staffing and the ability to find a locum pharmacist. They received data from 40 Integrated Care Boards (ICB) on the reasons behind temporary closures, with their findings helping to possibly explain why more rural pharmacies have higher hours of closure compared to London as finding locums may be more challenging in rural areas.

What can I do if my pharmacy is closing?

If your local pharmacy is closing down there are a few things you have to do to make sure that you will still be able to access your prescription medication.

It’s important to collect any of your outstanding prescriptions from the pharmacy before the date that they plan to close their doors as once it’s shut you will not be able to access these prescriptions.

Once you have done this you can change your nominated pharmacy where you receive your prescriptions to another one in your area. The NHS have a full list of pharmacies across England, you can find the nearest pharmacy near you by searching using your postcode on Find a Pharmacy.

You can change your nominated pharmacy by either going to the pharmacy in person and asking to change, changing it yourself on the NHS app or visiting your GP surgery and asking them to change it for you. Once you have changed to your new nominated pharmacy, this is where you will go to collect your prescriptions.

We’d love to hear from you! Have you been impacted by pharmacy closures? Share your thoughts in the comment section.