Community pharmacists from across Northern Ireland have met politicians at Stormont to showcase their role in addressing winter pressures, whilst also highlighting the threat to services posed by imminent National Insurance Contribution hikes. Community Pharmacy NI says the financial blow is “unsustainable and unjust”.
The Chief Executive of Community Pharmacy NI, Gerard Greene, said, “Community Pharmacists are caught in a desperate dilemma: they are clearly demonstrating their value by absorbing pressure on frontline healthcare services; and yet they’re also experiencing unrelenting financial pressures over which they have no control.
“On one hand, community pharmacies have been instrumental in tackling winter pressures, with the delivery of Flu and Covid-19; and they are testing and treating key health conditions like bacterial sore throats and urinary tract infections (UTIs) so that less patients need a GP appointment; on the other hand, they are about to face huge hikes in their running costs when the new National Insurance Contributions are introduced in April, which they have no way of absorbing.
National Insurance Contributions paid by employers are due to rise from 13.8% to 15% from 1 April, in a move introduced by UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves in the Autumn Budget. There are also changes to the National Minimum Wage with Community Pharmacy NI estimating that these changes will cost the sector here an additional £10million a year in payroll costs.
Gerard Greene explained that, in the face of this, the options for the sector are limited and he has warned that the impact will be felt by patients. He continued, “In the private sector, businesses facing these National Insurance rises will, most likely, consider increasing the prices they charge for goods and services to cover the extra running cost. Community pharmacies do not have this option and unlike the health service they are not protected from these Budget increases.”
“The only other way they can reduce the impact of this increased staff cost is to either cut staff numbers, or to reduce opening hours. The reality is that individual pharmacy owners are already propping up the cost of providing this national health service from their own savings, so any further increased costs are unsustainable and unjust. We welcome the opportunity to meet with elected members today to seek their support. We are asking them to make the case at Westminster for relief from the NIC rise for community pharmacies, as well as for GPs, opticians and dentists, all of whom face the same blow from 1 April.”
Danny Donnelly MLA, who chairs the All-Party Group on Community Pharmacy said:
“The meeting of the All-Party Group was testament to the strong support for the sector from MLAs across the Assembly. We all know and value the work done in our communities by Community Pharmacies providing medications and advice and services to people in need in their local areas.“
“We heard about the additional pressures on this vital sector from the UK budget and how this will impact pharmacies across Northern Ireland. We need to see the sector stabilised to fully deliver the services we need to keep people healthy and reduce pressure on other areas of the Health Service.”
Community pharmacist Liam Bradley who runs a number of pharmacies in locations in Derry~Londonderry, Tyrone and Enniskillen) said, “In the wake of the recent extraordinary winter pressures felt across Northern Ireland, we are pleased to showcase the success of community pharmacy teams in keeping patients well at home, without the need for a GP appointment or a trip to the Emergency Department.”
“We’re extremely proud of the contribution community pharmacy teams have made in tackling the winter pressures across the health service. These services are a strong example of what various Health Ministers have described as the “shift left”, aimed at keeping people as well as possible, as close to home as possible.“
“We also know that, with more investment, we could do even more – there is a lot of clinical expertise which could be further tapped into, to boost community-based healthcare.“
“With ongoing financial pressures, medicine shortages and fluctuating drug pricing making cash flow very difficult, this move will, categorically, impact on my ability to continue delivering pharmacy services. I simply cannot absorb these cost increases and consequently opening hours and jobs are at risk, which will ultimately affect our ability to deliver for patients.”
