Responding to reports that the Department of Health is planning to cut funding to community pharmacies by 12 percent, Julie Cooper MP, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Community Health, said:

“Local pharmacies are part of the life blood of communities up and down the country and many people depend on their local pharmacy.

 “These budget cuts could be catastrophic for many of these already struggling pharmacies, and any closures would significantly increase the pressure on our already over-stretched hospitals and GP surgeries.

 “The Department of Health needs an urgent rethink on this policy, and to reassure us that they are going to support, not cut, local community pharmacies.”