A new research has revealed that pharmacies in the United Kingdom are unable to provide vital NHS and public services Health They are unable to provide the services they need due to heavy financial and operational pressures. A survey of pharmacy owners of more than 2,100 pharmacies found that more than 96% of respondents said they had stopped providing locally commissioned services in the past year. These include emergency contraception and products to help people quit smoking.

Janet Morrison, chief executive of Community Pharmacy England, speaking to the media said, “Patients and local communities across England are paying the price of our crumbling community pharmacy network, as thousands of pharmacies are left with no choice but to reduce their services. These are not decisions any pharmacy wants to make, but with a 30% real-terms funding cut and rising costs, pharmacy owners are having to make impossible decisions to try to keep their doors open.”

The research comes after almost 1,000 pharmacies have closed in England since 2017. As part of the research, four in five, accounting for 81% of pharmacy owners, said they had to stop offering extended opening hours.

This revelation has come at a time when UK The health service is going through a crisis. Earlier, an inquiry revealed that almost 19,000 NHS patients had to wait for three days in an accident and emergency (A&E) department in a 12-month period. From April 2023 to March 2024, almost 400,000 people had to wait more than 24 hours in A&E departments. This is a 5% increase on last year’s figures.

The investigation exposed the “suffering and humiliation suffered by patients on a daily basis”. It came after an undercover reporter secretly filmed herself working as a trainee healthcare assistant for two months inside the emergency department of the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital. The footage shows a patient waiting in a seated area for almost 30 hours. A suspected stroke victim was also present for a 24-hour period.

Earlier, there were reports that the NHS is planning to recruit 2,000 doctors on a fast-track basis to address the shortage of doctors in India. According to a report by Business Standard, the NHS will conduct postgraduate training for the first batch of doctors who will be posted in UK hospitals after 6 to 12 months of training. On completion of the programme, these doctors will be exempted from the Professional and Linguistic Assessment Board exams.

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