Lincolnshire’s Health Scrutiny Committee has written to local MPs asking for their help in tackling the challenges facing the county’s community pharmacies.
Following recent reports highlighting the growing pressures facing community pharmacies and the risk to medicine supplies across Lincolnshire, the committee’s chairman Cllr Richard Cleaver has asked MPs to raise its concerns with government and push for urgent action to be taken at a national level.
Cllr Cleaver said: “We’re seeing evidence of the growing impact of medicine shortages, with pharmacy teams spending substantial time trying to source unavailable medicines or find substitutes. There’s also worrying evidence that this is leading to abuse and aggression towards pharmacy staff.
“In addition, community pharmacies are under sustained financial pressure arising from national funding arrangements and are expected to continue delivering essential NHS services while meeting significant operating costs. At the same time, they are being asked to play an expanding role in supporting the wider NHS. We fear that this leaves the sector increasingly fragile.
“These are no longer peripheral issues but central to the resilience of our primary care services, the safe management of medicines, and the ability of our residents to access timely care close to home.
“Although this is a national issue, in Lincolnshire, the impact is particularly acute because of our rurality. This means the loss of even a small number of pharmacies can have a disproportionate effect. The committee believes that the national response must take proper account of this.
“We, therefore, fully support the recommendations that have been made both nationally and locally to create a more resilient, transparent and responsive medicines supply system that safeguards patients, reduces avoidable disruption, and protects the UK against escalating global supply risks. There should also be a move towards a more sustainable long-term funding settlement for community pharmacies.
“We now need our local MPs to lend their support and push government for urgent action before the situation deteriorates further.”
The key recommendations from the report on community pharmacy services in Lincolnshire are:
- Treat medicines security as a national priority
- Publish a UK-wide medicines supply strategy
- Strengthen UK manufacturing and critical supply chains
- Improve early warning, reporting and data sharing
- Enhance information systems and transparency
- Enable regulatory and professional flexibility
- Strengthen local system coordination and workforce capacity
- Reinforce ethical supply chain responsibilities
- Expand education, research and market oversight