COVID-19-INDUCED closures are creating service gaps across the UK, with elderly and vulnerable patients among the worst affected, The Pharmaceutical Journal reports.
In the first eight months of 2020, more than 150 community pharmacies shut their doors due to the soaring costs of staying open during lockdowns.
Pharmacy owner, Stuart Gale told the publication that he had been forced to close one of his stores, despite processing and average of 5,000 items a month, due to the spiralling costs of staff, medicines and security.
"It's just not sustainable, the pharmacy service will crumble," he said.
"We do more and more for less and less, so I really think patients will see a shrinking of service.
"Pharmacies are keeping all those people in their homes and they're not paid for it, and we'll only notice when it's gone [and] it feels like that day is getting closer."
Thames Valley Local Pharmaceutical Committee (LPC) CEO, David Dean, told The Pharmaceutical Journal that seven pharmacies had closed in Oxfordshire in the last six months, with more likely to follow suit as financial pressures mount.
While the closures have yet to see an area without a pharmacy, Dean warned that was likely to change as stores go out of business, adding that at some stage rural villages could be left without a local pharmacy.
"For many, pharmacy offers the only opportunity to obtain face-to-face advice about their medicine regime and minor ailments," he said.
"Some prescriptions can be delivered by online companies, but for many of the elderly and most vulnerable this remains inaccessible."
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