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Research commissioned by the Liberal Democrats into the impact funding and rising costs are having on the pharmacy network in England and Wales has revealed some constituencies have less than 10 pharmacies to serve the entire area.

The analysis carried out by the House of Commons Library found the number of pharmacies has fallen by over 1,000 since 2016. In September that year, there were 12,204 pharmacies compared to 11,184 this year.

The analysis revealed five constituencies have less than 10 pharmacies “while others have close to 70”. The Liberal Democrats said some areas have been “decimated” by the disappearance of pharmacies which has led to “a stark postcode lottery”.

In total, 440 constituencies, equating to over three-quarters, have seen pharmacies close permanently in the last nine years. Just 65 constituencies have seen an increase.

The findings prompted the party to urge the Government to exempt pharmacies from national insurance increases and “overhaul the broken business rates system”.

Government must ‘change course’ to stop pharmacies closing

The highest rate of pharmacy closures was in Feltham and Heston, Bristol East and Newbury which lost a third of its pharmacies in less than 10 years.

London and Westminster had the highest number of pharmacy closures with 22, followed by Birmingham Ladywood (11) and Blackburn (10). Kingston-upon-Hull lost eight pharmacies.

The Liberal Democrats described the number of pharmacies to disappear as “staggering” and said “pharmacy deserts” were spreading across England and Wales. The party's health and social care spokesperson Helen Morgan warned the Government to “change course” to prevent more pharmacies closing.

“Pharmacies provide a lifeline to communities, allowing people to receive the care they need without being forced to endure the 8am scramble for a GP or the dangerously long waits for hospital admission,” she said.

“As these pharmacy deserts become normalised we risk putting hospitals already on the brink under even more pressure, adding to the misery so many patients have had to suffer unnecessarily.

“The Conservatives shameful neglect brought us to this point but the Labour government’s decision to hammer pharmacies once again with their damaging jobs tax risks making the situation so much worse.”

Pharmacy deserts putting patients in rural areas at risk

National Pharmacy Association chair Nick Kaye warned pharmacy deserts were putting patients in rural and isolated areas in particular at risk.

“This has been an incredibly challenging time for under-pressure pharmacies due to the impact of historic cuts and it is clear the government has inherited an intolerable situation,” he said.

Kaye reiterated his concern that community pharmacy faces a £2.5 billion black hole despite the recent announcement of a funding settlement for 2025-26.

“We will be watching closely to see if this brings much-needed stability to the pharmacy network and want to work with the government to move care into the community and address challenges pharmacies face head on,” he said.