CHEMISTS in the borough are urging people to join their fight against NHS cuts – which they claim could have life-threatening consequences.
Around a quarter of the 11,600 pharmacies in England are under threat as a result of Government plans to cut NHS funding by £170million. Petitions have been launched to oppose the cuts.
Bilton Pharmacy has been family-owned for over 40 years, but the six per cent cut nationally would see the business lose around £25,000-£30,000 of NHS funding over the next year.
Manager Ajit Barot says the cuts could mean closure – and would certainly ‘decimate’ their profits.
He said: “We’re very concerned. We’d lose the equivalent of two members of staff and it would have a massive impact on customers.”
He said his customers were up in arms, and had added 500 signatures to a petition against the cuts which he planned to send to Rugby MP Mark Pawsey.
He added: “Where would our customers go? It won’t be convenient for our older patients to go elsewhere. If Rowlands – who have four pharmacies in Rugby – closes its Dunchurch branch, the population of Dunchurch, Bilton, New Bilton and Cawston would have to go into town or Elliott’s Field. That cannot happen – it will just clog up the system.
“The impact would be more referrals to GPs and A&E – at a time when the NHS is trying to take the workload off them and get people to use other services like pharmacies. We just can’t get our head around it.
“I would reassure the Government that none of the town’s pharmacies are quiet. They’re all inundated; they are all needed. Otherwise we wouldn’t survive as commercial entities.”
He invited Mr Pawsey to visit the pharmacy to see the work they do and the roles they fulfil.
Research by the National Pharmacy Association showed more pressure would be put on GPs and urgent care services if access to pharmacies was reduced.
Two in five people said they would go their GP for the treatment of common conditions, while over a million (three per cent of respondents) would go to A&E. Seven in 10 people regard face-to-face advice from a pharmacist as very important to them.
The Department of Health said the number of pharmacies it funded between 2003 and 2015 rose by around 20 per cent.
And it said nearly half of community pharmacies were within walking distance of each other.
Petitions against the cuts can be found in most pharmacies in the borough.
