Rogue mail order medicine firms are killing off Britain’s vital high street pharmacies and risk leaving patients without face-to-face care
- ‘Distance selling pharmacies’ operate in breach of their contract, CCA claimed
- The Company Chemists’ Association said NHS had failed to clamp down on them
High Street pharmacies are having to close at an ‘alarming rate’ due to unfair competition from rogue mail order rivals, a trade body warns.
The Company Chemists’ Association says the closures risk leaving patients without the face-to-face care they need for minor ailments.
It accused NHS England of failing to clamp down on ‘distance selling pharmacies’ (DSPs) which operate in breach of their contract.
These firms benefit from lower costs as they do not have to rent, maintain and staff a bricks-and-mortar shop nor provide physical consultations.
They are instead required to deliver medicine to anywhere in the country via post or courier to limit the impact on local providers.
The Company Chemists’ Association says the closures risk leaving patients without the face-to-face care they need for minor ailments
But an investigation by the CCA, which represents chains such as Boots, LloydsPharmacy and Superdrug, found 72 per cent of DSPs deliver more than half of their prescriptions to patients from a single postcode area within ten miles of its pharmacy warehouse.
This means they could be saving vast sums on postage by delivering the drugs themselves, while depriving other local pharmacies of business.
The CCA says the number of DSPs operating in England increased by 247 between 2015/16 and 2021/22, while the number of physical stores fell by 673 over the same period.
It accused NHS England of failing to clamp down on ‘distance selling pharmacies’ (DSPs) which operate in breach of their contract. Pictured: Boots, which is represented by the CCA
It is now demanding urgent action to ensure pharmacies operate on a ‘level playing field’. The Daily Mail has been running a Save Our Local Pharmacies campaign calling on the Government to protect the vital businesses.
Malcolm Harrison, of the CCA, said: ‘Pseudo-DSPs’ are creating potential barren spots, breaching legal agreements, and are hastening pharmacy closures. It is down to NHS England to investigate, audit and challenge them…’
DSPs are not allowed to dispense medicines to anyone on their premises. The savings that come from not providing patient access are off-set by the requirement to operate nationally and the expectation that they will need to advertise.
An NHS spokesman said distance-selling pharmacies which failed to deliver medicines to anyone who requested them anywhere in England would be investigated.
Source: Read Full Article
