Staff shortages force pharmacies to close for 100,000 hours in a year amid plans to give them more work

Exclusive: It comes as experts warn plans to move work from GPs to pharmacies will have ‘marginal’ impact on GP crisis

Rishi Sunak has his blood pressure checked by a pharmacist during a visit to a GP surgery and pharmacy in Weston, Southampton (PA)

Staff shortages forced pharmacies to shut for 100,000 hours in a year, new figures show, just as the government has unveiled plans to shift more GP work their way.

The data, shared exclusively with The Independent by the organisation which represents pharmacies in England, also showed that almost 1,000 establishments closed for good between October 2016 and November 2022.

The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) figures revealed that pharmacies in the most deprived areas were more likely to shut permanently due to lack of staff, with areas such as Birmingham and Manchester among the worst affected.