MP presses Government over silence on pharmacy crisis

Local MP Tim Farron has written to the Department for Health following their silence over the current pharmacy crisis.

Tim tabled a motion in Parliament calling for there to be an 'Essential Community Pharmacy Scheme' to allow independent pharmacies to get funding upfront, but nearly three weeks later the Government are still yet to respond.

Many community pharmacies in the South Lakes are in danger of going out of business because of reductions in payments for prescriptions by NHS England.

Often, the money pharmacies receive from the NHS doesn't even cover the cost of the drugs being dispensed.

In one shocking case, last November, Collins and Butterworth in Hawkshead received £5000 less in NHS payments than their total drug cost for the month.

The money they received from the NHS dropped by 12% in 2016 and a further 8% last year.

Tim said: "Despite attracting support both locally and nationally, it's very disappointing that we've had no response on this from the Government.

"It's an absolute outrage that community pharmacies here in the South Lakes are losing thousands of pounds every month just for providing a vital NHS service.

"All of this is clearly unsustainable and many of our local community pharmacies may be forced to close unless urgent action is taken by the Government.

"I won't stop banging on the Department for Health's door until the future of our local pharmacies are secure."