Write a commentSouth Down MP, Chris Hazzard has met and given his backing to local community pharmacists who are in the midst of a growing financial crisis.
Mr Hazzard pointed out that the failure of the Department of Health to adequately resource the community pharmacy sector is having a direct impact upon the ability of the healthcare system as a whole to successfully transform and has called for this to be addressed.
Commenting on the crisis Mr Hazzard said “After many years of dispute, involving three separate judicial reviews, good progress was being made in 2016/2017 towards achieving a fair community pharmacy contract. The failure of the Department of Health to build on this progress in recent months is very worrying.
“Indeed the recent decision by the Department of Health to remove an estimated £20m from community pharmacy must be reversed; as it has a major impact upon the sustainability of rural pharmacies in particular.
“The Department of Health must move away from the dangerous habit of blindly importing large elements of English community pharmacy funding arrangements without firstly adjusting for local circumstances. This practise has led to severe financial stress for many of our local pharmacies who are subsequently working with a baseline funding deficit of at least £50,000."
