NHS figures show that the 2023-24 financial year saw a net closure of over 400 community pharmacies in England, equating to more than eight permanent closures per week – over five times the drop observed in the previous year.

The figures, which were obtained from NHS Digital and cover the period from April 1 2023 to February 24 this year, show that when permanent closures and newly opened pharmacies are tallied there was a net drop of 432 pharmacies in 2023-24 compared to a net drop of 78 in 2022-23.

The Company Chemists’ Association said this brings the total drop in pharmacy numbers since 2015-16 to 1,180.

Analysing the closures data, the CCA said deprived areas continue to be disproportionately affected by closures, with 34.9 per cent of permanent closures taking place in neighbourhoods classed in the top 20 per cent for socioeconomic deprivation.

“The CCA is concerned that this trend of pharmacy closures may undermine the access to healthcare in deprived areas, despite there being greater need of primary care in precisely these areas,” the trade body said, adding that the trend contributes to “distance decay” and threatens patients’ ability to access services like Pharmacy First.

CCA chief executive Malcolm Harrison said; “Pharmacies continue to close at an unprecedented rate. The real-terms cut to core funding of over 30 per cent since 2015 is simply untenable.

“Our analysis has also highlighted that unfortunately, these closures are disproportionately affecting the communities who need primary care access the most.

“Pharmacies cannot be expected to operate at a loss, and effectively subsidise the NHS, any longer. Without significant additional funding, fewer pharmacies will result in patients finding it even harder to access the medicines and clinical NHS care that they need.”