Chemists' bitter pill

HUNDREDS of small chemist shops face being driven out of business under a funding shakeup introduced tomorrow.

Independent pharmacists say they will not be able to survive when their income is slashed as part of a new NHS contract.

Currently, pharmacists dispensing fewer than 2,000 prescriptions a month can receive an annual Government payment of up to £18,000 and 94p for each NHS prescription.

Under the new rules, this will be cut to £3,000 or less and each prescription payment falls to 90p.

Almost 1,000 chemists - one in ten - in England and Wales dispense fewer than 2,000 prescriptions a month and will be hit by the change.

Pharmacists' leaders say the shake-up will mean the loss of hundreds of community chemists serving vulnerable customers such as mothers with young children and the elderly.

The warning comes as smaller chemists are already struggling to survive in the face of fierce competition from supermarkets.

Under the new contract, shops will get additional payments for extra services they offer, such as obesity awareness clinics and drug consultations.

They will be paid according to the range and quality of services they provide, rather than the amount of medication they dispense. But critics say the payments for additional services are simply not enough to replace the cash lost for dispensing drugs.

David Kent, secretary of the Local Pharmaceutical Committee for the North London district of Islington and Camden - one of the worst affected areas - has campaigned against the reforms.

He said more help was needed and that a small amount could be shifted from the bigger players to help.

'High Street chemists are good at providing an efficient, impersonal service. But many people want a local, personal service,' he said.

'These are exactly the places under threat. Many hundreds of these smaller chemists face going out of business because of this.'

Small chemists' representatives believe the contracts simply switch support to the larger chains. The shake-up follows a relaxation of dispensing rules which means supermarkets, Internet firms and GPs can launch rival services.

Experts have said it will hasten the slow death of Britain's towns following the closure of thousands of grocers, banks, post offices and pubs. The latest reforms were agreed between the Department of Health and the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee, which represents chemists, after a ballot.

But there have been complaints that the large chains had an undue influence on the result. The Health Department defended the new contracts, saying the new payment scheme comes into force from 2008 allowing chemists time to develop services.

Pharmacists who are unable to continue in business can get an 'exit payment' of £18,000 but only if they take it within the first year.

Health Secretary John Reid said: 'Pharmacists have previously been a huge, untapped resource for improving public health.

'The new contract will allow community pharmacists to work closer with, and support, other primary care professionals in delivering more patient-centred, accessible services.'

'We are needed . . . but a lot will go to the wall'

HARRY GITTER has been a chemist for 32 years, serving generations of the same families. But he believes his shop in Hampstead, North London, will have to close along with many other independent pharmacies when the new payment scheme begins in 2008.

Mr Gitter works 50 hours a week but says he enjoys his work. He estimates he will lose about £21,000, leaving him with little or no income on which to live.

Mr Gitter, 62, said: 'A lot of pharmacies will go to the wall. I value and enjoy serving my community. I know three generations. We are needed. The ramifications of shops like mine closing will be the isolation of communities.'

His shop serves around 3,000 regular customers who will be deprived of a personal service, he said. 'I want to work past retirement because I enjoy serving the local community,' he added. 'I was hoping to keep in touch with the customers.'

Mr Gitter believes more needs to be done to ensure the survival of local chemists such as his: 'I feel let down by the body which represented us and I believe that the Government ought to be more sympathetic to our case.'

Islington-based Aziza Chakowa, a chemist for 22 years, faces a similar fate. She said: 'I am going to struggle after these funds disappear in 2008. I will have to close but I don't want to. I want to provide a service.'

The Health Department and the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee said there were schemes in place to help smaller chemists.