Open letter from the PDA demanding action on patient safety concerns around pharmacy closures (19 July 2022)

Summary

This open letter from the Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) raises concerns about unnecessary full or part-day closures of community pharmacies throughout the UK by some large multiple pharmacy operators. The letter states that these operators are telling patients and the government that they have been unable to find pharmacists, citing an alleged national pharmacist shortage. However, the PDA's members report that this is not the case, and the letter draws attention to closures being planned four weeks in advance, and to locum pharmacists having agreed rates of pay reduced at the last minute. The PDA highlights the risk to patient safety caused by these closures, and calls for more regulatory action to be taken by the government and other regulators.

The letter is addressed to:

• Government Health Secretaries of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales
• Chief Executives of the National Health Service in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales
• NHS Chief Pharmaceutical Officers for England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales
• Chief Executive of General Pharmaceutical Council and Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland.