Contribution
As always, it is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Jardine. I want to speak about rural community pharmacies. I am grateful to the hon. Member for Tiverton and Minehead (Rachel Gilmour) for securing this important and timely debate.
In my constituency, from Haltwhistle and Haydon Bridge to Bellingham, Ponteland and the villages across Tynedale, the local pharmacy is not simply a convenient service on the high street; it is the frontline of the NHS and a core and trusted custodian of community health and wellbeing. As has been said, rural healthcare works differently. People face geographical access challenges. Longer travel distances and limited public transport are both huge determinants of health outcomes. They face digital access challenges, with more frequent broadband and mobile connection issues. More than 30% of the population of my constituency is over the age of 65, and about 20% of the people in the communities I represent live with a disability. There are considerable accessibility challenges, which require assurance and support from a friendly and locally minded in-person service that community pharmacies are uniquely positioned to deliver.
I want to touch more broadly on the challenges of delivering healthcare rurally. When we speak about modernising the NHS—from the conversations that I have had with the Minister privately, I know he is aware of this—we need to ensure that making the NHS more digital does not leave behind rural areas, where the access challenge continues. I hope the broader challenges posed by the Health Bill are taken up by other Departments in addressing connectivity issues.
Whether they are managing the specific symptoms of a condition, collecting a prescription or accessing emergency contraception, or are a parent needing reassurance about their child’s symptoms, those in rural communities rely on proximity to their local pharmacy, given that the journey to a GP surgery or hospital is often unworkable, inaccessible or costly. In providing a wide range of health services, pharmacies play a crucial role in the broader mechanics of care, easing pressure on GP practices and helping patients to get the care they need more quickly. That is exactly the direction of travel proposed in the Health Bill. We want care closer to home, a shift towards prevention and better use of the wider healthcare workforce. If we are serious about delivering on those ambitions in rural areas, we have to be equally serious about supporting the infrastructure that makes that possible.
The reality on the ground is that community pharmacies, particularly those in rural areas, are under real strain. In England, around 90% of the population live within walking distance of a community pharmacy, but that falls to just 20% in rural areas. We have seen closures and reductions in opening hours, and in places like my constituency, the loss of a single pharmacy is not easily absorbed—it is not simply numbers on a spreadsheet. There is not always another one down the road; the next nearest pharmacy could be several miles away, beyond the reach of those without a car or effective public transport links.
I welcome the recently announced funding package for community pharmacies in England, but we need to address the further challenges to close the gap between the rising costs facing the sector and their increased delivery of services, which leaves community pharmacies vulnerable and, often, in a turbulent operating environment. Nearly 64,000 community pharmacy weekly opening hours were lost between September 2022 and June 2024. We cannot afford to lose any more, especially in rural constituencies. We need rural funding models that reflect reality and a continued commitment to innovation in community pharmacy. I urge the Minister to take forward those points.