Month: March 2025

The representative body for Community Pharmacy in Northern Ireland, CPNI, has told MLAs at Stormont that community pharmacy owners are caught in a difficult position. While community pharmacies are playing an increased role in relieving health service pressures, CPNI has warned the politicians that a deepening financial crisis is threatening the existence of many local community pharmacies and undermining the role they could play.

Speaking to an all-party group of elected members at the Northern Ireland Assembly, pharmacy leaders have laid out the opportunity to ramp-up community-based healthcare through greater use of their clinical expertise; however, they say that a long-running funding shortfall is leaving pharmacy owners struggling to pay their medicine wholesalers and is leading to cuts in staffing and opening hours in an attempt to reduce spiralling overheads.

Representatives from CPNI were briefing politicians at Stormont on Tuesday 25 March on the Community Pharmacy Strategic Plan for 2030. They have worked closely with the Department of Health and SPPG officials to expand and enhance community-based clinical services such as vaccinations, advice and treatment of sore throat, shingles and urinary tract infections and provision of emergency contraception.

While outlining the many advantages of these clinical developments, CPNI has called for political support to bridge a deepening financial gap which threatens to undermine the existence of community pharmacy services.

One community pharmacy owner, Ian Gabbie, from Killyleagh, told the group of politicians that his family-run pharmacy is committed to increasing the role played by community pharmacy in reducing the pressure on GPs and hospital emergency departments.

Mr Gabbie is a passionate community pharmacist, and both his son and daughter are now working alongside him as pharmacists. However, he said that they work extended hours in order to keep staffing costs to a minimum.

Mr Gabbie explained, “Our efforts in Killyleagh are helping to improve health outcomes and reduce pressure on other critical parts of the health service. Regrettably, this is not sustainable with the current funding model. Every month is a financial juggling act to ensure I have the funds to pay my staff and drug wholesalers.

“We have made redundancies and recently reduced our opening times from a full day on a Saturday to just three hours, in an effort to protect our core Monday to Friday services.
“As a sector, a sense of pride in our community pharmacies drives us to prop up our businesses, with the hope that common sense funding will prevail.”

Gerard Greene, Chief Executive of Community Pharmacy NI said, “The benefits of increasing the clinical expertise of community pharmacists are undeniable: everyone, including the Health Minister has recognised the value and contribution of community pharmacy to health services.

“However, the fact remains that every single month, these individual pharmacy owners are struggling to work within the extremely stressful financial constraints of Department of Health funding model. They’re reducing opening hours, cutting staff and juggling payments to drug wholesalers in order to maintain a safe supply of vital medicines and other services.

“We have welcomed the opportunity to discuss this with politicians. We have sought their support in calling for the Minister to review the financial model, and to work with us to agree – together – a model which will stabilize the sector and allow it to fulfil its potential to transform healthcare in Northern Ireland.”

The body representing community pharmacists in Northern Ireland has told a Stormont committee that recurrent funding difficulties, coupled with the increase in National Insurance Contributions, will see more pharmacies close their doors. The sector has been grappling with a funding deficit of £20 million per year for more than a decade.

According to CPNI, many pharmacists have been defaulting on their wholesaler bills, a clear indicator of the severity of the financial strain being felt across the community pharmacy network.

In a recent survey carried out of community pharmacy contractors, an alarming 43% of respondents had been unable to pay their medicine bills on time over recent months.

The survey also revealed that in the past six months, a concerning 81% have said that they would not recommend the profession to others, a stark contrast to the vital role they play in providing healthcare services to communities across Northern Ireland.

CPNI told MLAs that these existing issues will be compounded by the rise in National Insurance Contributions and wage increases which will see a £12.4 million burden being added to the recurring £20 million deficit.

Turlough Hamill, Community Pharmacist, Hamills Pharmacy, Portadown said: “Community pharmacies are at a breaking point and the financial pressures passed an unsustainable level long ago. It is no exaggeration to say that without prompt intervention, the very future of community pharmacy services is at risk, leaving patients without essential access to medicines and advice.

“Many contractors have had to subsidise costs with personal savings or defer payments, resulting in medicines being withheld, as well as take out loans at high interest rates. Another community pharmacy closed at the end of February 2025 due to financial pressures and there have been 17 closures in the 2-year period to Dec’24 compared to 9 in the previous 8 years.

“Of course, we acknowledge the funding challenges within the health service, but it is important that we bring a sense of reality here today to the situation facing community pharmacy in Northern Ireland and by extension, primary care and the wider health service.
“We are calling on the Department of Health to address and resolve the fundamental funding model once and for all.”

Many pharmacists have told CPNI that relentless financial and operational pressures are negatively impacting their mental health, personal lives, and overall well-being. While they remain passionate about their profession, the current environment makes it an increasingly unsustainable career choice.
Community pharmacy representatives have now warned MLAs that without urgent action, the sector will face reduced services, limiting patient access to care, more pharmacy closures and cuts to opening hours and staff, negatively impacting local communities.
ENDS//..

Community pharmacies in Northern Ireland will face a £12.4m increase in costs due to National Insurance and Minimum Wage increases from 1 April 2025.The hike threatens the long-term sustainability of essential community healthcare services, adding a further significant cost burden to an already beleaguered network of community pharmacies across Northern Ireland.

The industry representative body, Community Pharmacy NI says the increased operational costs will impact on service provision and patient accessibility.Since the start of 2023, 17 community pharmacies in Northern Ireland have shut their doors amid an ongoing funding shortfall that the sector is struggling to overcome.

Against the backdrop of these closures, Health Minister Mike Nesbitt MLA recently told MLAs at the Assembly Health Committee that he does not foresee additional funding being allocated to cover the extra costs.

Community pharmacies are calling on officials to protect the community pharmacy network from these cost increases and are calling for a rebalancing of healthcare provision, one that emphasises community care, prioritises prevention over treatment, and supports people in managing their conditions at home.

Chief Executive of Community Pharmacy NI, Gerard Greene, said,“In the private sector, businesses can often offset such cost increases by raising the prices of their goods and services. Community pharmacies do not have this option. Unlike the health service, they are not shielded from these increases, which are mounting. Community pharmacies are already subsidising the health service, and this will make the situation worse.

“We have already seen 17 community pharmacies close in Northern Ireland since the beginning of 2023 due to the funding shortfall the sector is grappling with. These further pressures because of the NIC increases will certainly impact patients and lead to reduced services in many local areas at a time when we are supposed to support the development of community-based healthcare services and take pressure off secondary care. This runs contrary to the transformation objectives that the health service needs to take forward”.