Wiltshire's "pharmacy deserts" revealed following new study
There are now fewer pharmacies across the whole county than there were in 2022
A new report has identified Wiltshire towns with no or little access to out-of-hours pharmacy provision.
Public consultation on Wiltshire Council Public Health Team’s Wiltshire Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment closed on August 15.
The draft assessment suggests that Westbury, Warminster and Corsham are particularly badly served when it comes to pharmacy services after 6pm on weekdays, or on weekends.
The report has found that there are fewer pharmacies in the county than at the publication of the last report in 2022. Wiltshire now has 62 community pharmacies and 20 dispensing GPs, and has lost five community pharmacies in the past three years.
There is now an average of 1.2 pharmacies per 10,000 population which is “noticeably lower than the regional and national picture.”
The closures come at a time when the county’s health needs are increasing, with the population getting older and sicker.
Population numbers are forecast to grow by six percent to 2040. But while the proportion of the population made up of children and working age adults is expected to decline, the over 65 cohort is expected to grow by seven percent.
Right now, 60 percent of the adult population is overweight or obese. More than 11 percent are smokers, and a third (30 percent) don’t meet physical activity guidelines.
The prevalence of key health conditions – hypertension, strokes, coronary heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, diabetes, and dementia – are all above the national average.
Seventeen percent of the population are registered disabled.
Meanwhile, almost half of Wiltshire’s population lives in rural areas, 11 percent of whom are aged 65 or over. Thirteen percent of the population do not have access to a car.
This summer, a public consultation exercise heard from nearly 1,500 residents – with half aged 65 or older.
Countywide, 79 percent of respondents said they have been able to access a pharmacy as and when needed.
But nearly six in ten Westbury residents said they were not able to access a pharmacy when they needed to.
In neighbouring Warminster the figure was 37 percent, while in Corsham it was 25 percent – although ne pharmacies are in the pipeline for both towns.
There are 56 community pharmacies operating under 40-hour-a-week contracts in Wiltshire and six operating under 100-hour-a-week contracts, and it is the latter that tend to offer out-of-hours services.
But the bulk of those pharmacies are concentrated in Malmesbury, Calne, Chippenham, Melksham, and Trowbridge.
Out of the 18 community areas in the county, 17 have at least one Saturday pharmacy – but Westbury has none.
“This represents a barrier to sufficient choice in that locality on Saturdays, particularly for those households in that do not have access to a car,” says the report.
“Providing pharmacy provision on Saturdays would represent an improvement in access.”
Eleven pharmacies in the county are open on a Sunday – a reduction from 14 in 2022. The report notes that there is an imbalanced geographical spread of pharmacies with these opening times across the county, with a notable absence in southern Wiltshire as well as the east of the county.
The disparity means that while nearly everyone in the community with access to a car (97 percent) can reach a pharmacy within half an hour after 6.30pm, under a third (29 percent) can access services within five minutes.
The report concludes that while working hours provision is adequate in all areas, efforts should be made to expand the existing service in Westbury to provide Saturday cover.