SOUTH Lakeland pharmacists are worried about their futures in the wake of proposed funding cuts which could see up to 3,000 pharmacies close nationwide.

Community pharmacies have been told they could lose around £14,500 a year each, and fear this will impact on the service they can provide.

Health minister Alistair Burt announced in January that funding for community pharmacy in 2016/17 will be cut by £170m.

The cut, from £2.8bn to £2.63bn, is a reduction of more than six per cent in cash terms, and Mr Burt suggested that between 1,000 and 3,000 pharmacies will close across the country.

The cut is due to take effect from October this year, and community pharmacies in South Lakeland have raised concerns about the impact this will have.

Simon Butterworth, of Collins and Butterworth pharmacy in Hawkshead, said the proposals were ‘concerning’.

“It’s difficult to assess the impact until the full details of the cuts have been announced but we will have to take a long hard look at what we can realistically provide,” he said.

“The things we don’t get paid for, such as the delivery service, will become the hardest to provide and so the biggest impact is likely to be on vulnerable groups, particularly in remote areas.

“We won’t see anybody stuck but it becomes very difficult to fund these kinds of services when the running cost are increasing and the funding is decreasing.”

Anothai Chareunsy, of Staveley Pharmacy, said the Government had not assessed how the funding cuts would impact patients.

“For the past few years they have been trying to direct people towards using pharmacies first, as opposed to GPs or hospitals, but this seems to go against that," he said.

“The consequences for smaller pharmacies could be very serious because we don’t have the financial stability of the bigger organisations.

“Every pharmacy is already running on minimum staff. We won’t be letting any staff go but we’ll have to look at all our outgoings and see where else savings can be made.”

However, the government is currently consulting on the introduction of a Pharmacy Access Scheme, which could provide additional NHS funds to certain pharmacies, but has yet to explain what this could mean.

South Lakes MP Tim Farron has written to the Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt to make the case for providing additional help for pharmacies in rural areas.

He said: “The government’s decision to cut the budget for community pharmacies could potentially have a devastating impact on pharmacies in rural areas like South Lakeland.

“In these areas, pharmacies provide an essential service going far beyond simply dispensing drugs – they are often people’s first port of call for medical assistance and advice, and if they are forced to close due to these changes it will ultimately be the NHS which will have to pick up the tab.”