More than three thousand community pharmacies from across the UK have balloted for industrial action with emergency contraception and addiction services being on the line.
Oliver Leader De Saxe reports.
Oliver Leader De Saxe reports.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Tight margins, anger at the government and fears of cutting services to survive.
00:05The story here at Hodgson's Pharmacy in Longfield is one playing out across the entire country,
00:12with the family owned business being one of more than 3,300 independent pharmacies to
00:19vote in favour of unprecedented industrial action.
00:24The National Pharmacy Association which ran the ballot is demanding an additional £1.7
00:30billion in funding annually to address financial pressures facing the sector, partially in
00:37response to a budget which saw minimum wage and national insurance tax contributions rise.
00:45It's got to a point now, the sector is broken. You're seeing one pharmacy a day on average
00:50close. In Kent we've seen roughly 20 pharmacies close already across the last year, year
00:55and a half. And that's nearly 10% of the pharmacies that were existing. So it's crunch point.
01:01We can't have any more pharmacies closing and putting patients at risk of not receiving
01:05the much needed healthcare that they get from the pharmacies.
01:09The action means that if the government doesn't provide more money, the way pharmacies operate
01:14in the county could change. For a start, pharmacies would be unlikely to open beyond
01:20the minimum hours required, particularly in the evening and at the weekends, while local
01:27services such as emergency contraception and addiction support could be axed. And for those
01:34here in Longfield reliant on their last remaining pharmacy, looming industrial action has left
01:41them worried.
01:42I was quite shocked to hear it. Obviously down in Longfield and the surrounding areas
01:48we've just got this one pharmacy now. So to reduce the hours would be really difficult.
01:57I think it's terrible.
01:59We need the chemists more than ever because of the lack of doctors that we can see. They
02:05are very helpful and they can give us some professional advice.
02:10And they get to know us too, because we're all on this living road.
02:13You can't get a doctor's appointment. So quite often we'll go as our first protocol to our
02:18pharmacist. We rely on them. And if the pharmacists are going to be closed, then it's going to
02:23impact on us getting that medical treatment that we might need.
02:26The government say that community pharmacies have a vital role to play in their 10 year
02:32health plan, blaming the system they inherited and stating they are committed to working
02:38the sector to come to a solution. But for independent pharmacies like Hodgson's, a failure
02:45to commit to additional support would be a bitter pill to swallow.
02:50Oliver Leader, The Sat for KMTV in Longfield.