To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the trend in the level of funding for community pharmacies since 2019 on the availability of those pharmacies.
Answered on
20 February 2023
The following table shows the number of community pharmacies that opened and closed in England in each of the last five financial years. This includes changes of ownership which are counted both as a closure and an opening.
Financial year | Number of pharmacies opened | Number of pharmacies closed |
2017/18 | 242 | 347 |
2018/19 | 220 | 347 |
2019/20 | 239 | 405 |
2020/21 | 236 | 451 |
2021/22 | 308 | 418 |
There remains good access to National Health Service pharmaceutical services in England, with 80% of the population living within 20 minutes walking distance to their nearest pharmacy and two times more pharmacies in the more deprived areas.
We continue to closely monitor the market. The Pharmacy Access Scheme supports access in areas where there are fewer pharmacies by financially supporting those pharmacies.
No assessment has been made of the impact of the level of funding for community pharmacies since 2019 on the availability of those pharmacies.