Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the trends in the level of (a) closures and (b) reduction in the opening hours of rural pharmacies; and what assessment he has made of the effect on access to pharmacy services of reductions in the level of public transport services.

Whilst the Department does not track closures of rural pharmacies, we track the closure of those pharmacies that are more than a mile from their next nearest pharmacy. Since 2017, there have been 18, with no discernible trend in the closures. No assessment has been made of reduced opening hours or the effect of any reduction in public transport on access. NHS England and NHS Improvement closely monitor closures to ensure that National Health Service pharmaceutical services continue to be provided. Depending on the area, this maybe through other pharmacies that patients can access in the area, dispensing doctors and/or distance selling pharmacies.

The Government also paid for a medicines delivery service for people while shielding and, during the peak of the pandemic, enabled pharmacies to close to the public for two hours a day to help deal with the increased number of telephone calls, for advice on health and medicines, from the public, who preferred not to visit the pharmacy in person.