MP urges minister to intervene to protect South Lakes pharmacies

Today in Parliament, local MP Tim Farron strongly urged the Government to intervene to protect pharmacies that are in danger of going out of business because of significant reductions in payments for prescriptions by NHS England

Speaking during a Westminster Hall debate on community pharmacies, Tim said: "Often, the money that pharmacies receive from the NHS does not even cover the cost of the drugs being dispensed.

"In one shocking case, a pharmacist in my constituency in a relatively small Lake district village, who I have visited regularly, received in one single month £5,000 less in NHS payments than they had to pay out in wholesale drug payments.

"And that is on top of that pharmacy losing on average 10% of its NHS income each year over the last three years. That is utterly unsustainable, but it is replicated across our communities.

"So, I ask the Minister to intervene personally to put this matter right."

In response, the health minister Jo Churchill said that the Government was seeking "to ensure a fairer system of reimbursement for pharmacy contractors and value for money for the NHS".