The NPA has announced a second day of action on 19 September as part of its Save Our Pharmacies campaign to highlight the funding crisis affecting pharmacies
The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) announced today that their cross-sector Save Our Pharmacies petition has already garnered over 230,000 signatures from concerned patients.
The petition urges the government to provide immediate, fair, and sustained funding to secure the future of local community pharmacies.
Since the NPA's unprecedented National Day of Action last month, an additional 140,000 signatures have been collected, raising the total to 234,726, with thousands more being added daily.
Paul Rees, chief executive of the National Pharmacy Association, expressed his gratitude to all the community pharmacies who have collected signatures from their patients as part of this campaign.
“It sends a powerful message to the new government that pharmacies are held in high esteem by the communities for which they are the front door to the NHS.
“I’m sure we all know how valued local pharmacies are by their patients but it is an incredible testament to community pharmacy that over 200,000 people have signed this petition so far,” he said.
Community pharmacies that have collected signatures but have not yet returned them to the NPA are encouraged to send them to saveourpharmacies@npa.co.uk to ensure they are included in the final count submitted to the government.
“If you have collected signatures in your local pharmacy but haven’t returned them yet, please do so as the larger the total signatures collected, the bigger the impact it will have on the government.
“We are determined to do all we can to highlight the enormous financial challenges facing community pharmacy and the need for a new deal that will halt the closures and allow the sector to reach its full potential,” Paul added.
Approximately 6,000 community pharmacies participated in the NPA’s Day of Action in June, during which pharmacies wore black, turned off their lights, and collected petition signatures to protest the funding crisis affecting pharmacies.
In a continued effort to highlight the ongoing impact of financial pressures on community pharmacies, the NPA has announced a second day of action.
Scheduled for 19 September, the event is strategically timed to coincide with the run-up to the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, the association said.
