More pharmacies across the north face closure as a result of a funding crisis, it has been warned.
More than 12 pharmacies have closed their doors in the last 18 months as a result of not being fully reimbursed for dispensing prescription medicines, the Community Pharmacy NI body has said.
It has called for Stormont’s Department of Health (DoH) to create a drug tariff specific to the north, as pharmacists have said they are replying on sales of non-prescription items including make-up to stay afloat.
Co Fermanagh pharmacist Siobhan McNulty told BBC NI that sales of other items were “propping up” the dispensary, and that she had to limit supplies of a life-saving drug as the costs rose from £2 per box to £17.
She told the broadcaster she has to wait for the DoH to play “catch up” in reimbursing her for the cost increase.
In a recent interview with the Impartial Reporter newspaper, Community Pharmacy NI representative Joe McAleer warned: “We have absorbed the cuts and cost rises as much as we can, but we are at breaking point.”
A DoH spokesperson said it was facing “severe budgetary pressures”, but funding for community pharmacies in Northern Ireland “compared favourably” to other parts of the UK.
“The Department’s ‘Community Pharmacy Strategic Plan 2030′ aims to fully realise the potential of community pharmacy services to support better health outcomes from medicines and prevent illness,” they said.
“Implementation in 2024-25 is associated with an increase in community pharmacy’s core funding of £19m compared to 2023/24 but full delivery will require additional funding, given the current financial constraints this will require a phased approach.”
