City had highest rate of pharmacy closures

PLYMOUTH HAS HIGHEST RATE PER 100K OF POPULATION IN COUNTRY

- KIRSTIE MCCRUM

PLYMOUTH had England's highest rate of pharmacy closures over the last year, new figures reveal.

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) says the country faces a material threat to the availability of vital medicines if a decade of underfunding and closures is not addressed. Its analysis shows that Plymouth has seen the highest number of pharmacy closures per 100,000 of its population - with York, Liverpool, Darlington and Wakefield all close behind.

Data shows that eight pharmacies in the city closed between the second quarter of the 2022-23 financial year and Q1 of 202425 a rate of 3.1 per 100,000 people.

York and Cheshire East both had a rate of three pharmacies per 100k people shut, but based on vastly different numbers - with the former going from 42 to 36 outlets, and the latter going from 155 to 142.