Can pharmacies really fill the GP gap?
If you’re struggling to get a GP appointment for a common illness, who better to lend a hand than an experienced pharmacist?
This is the idea behind Pharmacy First, an initiative launched by the government and NHS England last year that means you can go straight to your pharmacist (and get a prescription) for seven common ailments.
Asking pharmacists to relieve some of the pressure on GPs sounds like a practical solution, but as Professor Kamila Hawthorne, chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners, says: ‘The unfortunate reality is that both professions are facing crises.’
A perfect storm of funding difficulties, staff shortages and manufacturing issues is impacting pharmacies, and as a result how easy it is to access the medication or advice you need when you need it.
Live well, eat better and stay healthy – sign up to our free monthly Food & Health newsletter for the latest expert reviews and insights delivered straight to your inbox
Pharmacy struggles impact ease of getting medication
Funding for pharmacies has fallen 40% in real terms over the past decade, according to the National Pharmacy Association (NPA), which warns that this is unsustainable with the rising cost of wages and energy bills.
Pharmacies pay upfront to order medicines and are later reimbursed by the NHS. However, what the NHS pays - based on its list of approved drug prices - doesn't always match the cost, leaving pharmacies operating at a loss.
Historically, pharmacies ordered medication at the start of the month, but cashflow difficulties mean they're increasingly only ordering on request, meaning you have to wait longer to get your prescription.
When we surveyed 1,070 Which? Connect members in February 2025, one in five told us they’d struggled to access the prescription medicine they needed in the past year.
Rachel, 26, from Norfolk, has consistently been unable to get her ADHD medication. She explains: 'For the past year, there's not been more than two consecutive months when I've been able to order and pick up my entire prescription in one go.’
Rachel describes her medication as ‘life-changing’, and tells us she experienced severe withdrawal symptoms that left her bed-bound during a three-week spell with no medication. Now she has to visit a bigger pharmacy 25 minutes away from where she lives.
A 2025 study by the Consumer Data Research Centre at Leeds University highlighted that ‘pharmacy deserts’ – where access to medicine is lowest – were far more likely to be in rural areas. People living there may be one or two local pharmacies, but they often have to travel further afield to get their medication.
Searching for somewhere that stocks her prescription consumes much of Rachel's mental energy. ‘It’s your whole day, every day until you can get your half dose bottle,' she says. 'And then it starts all over again the next month.’
Discover new episodes of Which? Shorts every Wednesday.
Pharmacy closures
Getting hold of your medication, or using your pharmacist to get ad-hoc advice on common health issues, relies on you having reliable options nearby.
But for some this is increasingly not the case. When we looked at data from England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to find out how many pharmacies are closing down, we found that across the four nations, 2,602 pharmacies had closed between July 2022 and September 2024.*
Though the vast majority of them – 1,812 pharmacies – had been taken over, this still means 790 pharmacies permanently shut down in just over two years.
A lot of the pharmacies closing their doors were big chains. Lloyds Pharmacy closed 1,243 branches, while Boots closed 398.
Mass pharmacy closures place even more pressure on the rest, sometimes resulting in long queues and businesses operating at a greater loss.
Lindsey Fairbrother, a pharmacy owner in Derbyshire, told us, 'It’s a nightmare when pharmacies closes down. The next pharmacy takes on the burden of all the prescriptions and is then dispensing at a loss. It makes the finances of the remaining pharmacies even more fragile.'
Best painkillers: aspirin, ibuprofen or paracetamol? Find out about the different types of painkillers, what works best for different ailments and whether pricey branded formulations are really worth it
Longer queues, erratic hours and fewer free services
Funding pressures are leading to increasingly tough choices, says Nick Kaye, chair of the NPA and owner of two pharmacies in Cornwall.
‘Our members are reducing opening hours and reducing staffing. People are also waiting longer for their medication. But, if we don’t do that, there will be no pharmacy at all.’
Beyond stores being regularly closed on evenings and at the weekend, Which? members told us that they had encountered seemingly erratic closures.
Colin, 80, from Somerset, struggled to get his epilepsy medication on several occasions, often due to lack of stock, with staff asking him to come back later. Sometimes he’d return to find the pharmacy closed, despite being within the stated opening hours.
Colin’s not the only person to have experienced this. There were more than 13,000 ‘temporary closures’ reported in 2023 (where a pharmacy closes during its usual operating hours). This is usually due to having no pharmacist on site, in which case medicines can’t legally be dispensed for safety reasons.
Staffing shortages mean the only times many people can visit the pharmacy – at lunch and after work – are the times it’s closed.
‘I can’t do without my meds,’ says Colin, ‘so after a couple of months went by and they didn’t have them again, I thought I can’t go on like this.’ He now visits a pharmacy in a neighbouring town that he’s found to be more reliable.
Some pharmacies have also started to charge extra for helpful services that used to be free, such as home delivery.
Pharmacist Lindsey Fairbrother told us: 'As a healthcare professional it’s really uncomfortable asking people for money – I’ve not had to do that before. But because we don’t get paid properly, we can’t carry on doing stuff for free.’
Additional funding from the Pharmacy First scheme has been warmly received, with 95% of pharmacies signing up. However, Nick Kaye describes the service as the ‘perfect icing on a crumbling cake.'
New funding agreed for pharmacies in 2025
A substantial uplift to pharmacy funding in England for the 2025/26 financial year was announced at the end of March, making a step towards financial security for pharmacies.
The new funding agreement includes a 15% increase in the amount pharmacies are paid per prescription – from £1.27 to £1.46 – as well as the continuation of additional funding for Pharmacy First.
Pharmacists in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have reached settlements, however pharmacists in England geared themselves up for potential strike action at the start of April. The National Pharmacy Association is no longer recommending collective action to its members.
Hay fever symptoms and treatment options explained – we explain the options for symptom relief, and how to save on hay fever tablets, sprays and drops
What can pharmacies prescribe?
Pharmacy First enables pharmacists to prescribe medicine for seven common conditions, without you needing to see a GP or make an appointment.
Pharmacy First is NHS-funded, so prescriptions cost £9.90 unless you're exempt from paying for NHS prescriptions.
You can use the NHS Service Finder to check if your pharmacy is participating.
We've listed the seven illnesses here, along with the age range of those who can be treated.
- Middle ear infection (aged 1-17)
- Impetigo (aged 1+)
- Infected insect bites (aged 1+)
- Shingles (aged 18+)
- Sinusitis (aged 12+)
- Sore throat (aged 5+)
- Urinary tract infections (women aged 16-64 - uncomplicated cases only)
How to get the medicine you need
Unfortunately, there’s no one-size-fits-all advice that will put an end to your prescription problems, but your pharmacist or GP should be able to help you if you're having difficulties and there are options:
- Ask your pharmacist for the prescription's electronic token. If your nominated pharmacy doesn't have the medicine you need, you can ask them to return the prescription. They'll release the prescription out to a central NHS system called the 'Spine', and you can request an electronic barcode token for the prescription to take to any other pharmacy in England, Wales, and the Isle of Man. In Scotland and Northern Ireland, paper prescriptions are still used, which you can take to other pharmacies.
- Find out availability elsewhere. If your pharmacist doesn't have the medicine you need, ask if there's another nearby pharmacy with it in stock. Some Which? members said their pharmacist called other places on their behalf.
- Ask for unbranded medication. If you’ve been prescribed a specific branded medication that isn't available, ask your GP if there's an unbranded alternative. A pharmacist has to give you exactly what you've been prescribed, but they may have an identical, unbranded substitute.
- Use an online pharmacy. If you're unable to travel to different pharmacies, consider using an online pharmacy and get your medicine delivered to you. Check it’s on the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) register to be sure it’s reputable.
- Order repeat prescriptions via the NHS app. In England and Wales, you can view your requested medicines in the NHS App to see when they have been approved by your GP. NHS England are also rolling out a prescription-tracking service, which tells you the progress of your order, for example ‘pharmacy preparing medicine’. The 'Digital Front Door' app is planned to be rolled out for NHS Scotland in the summer of 2025, but is not expected to have prescription tracking available. Northern Ireland's 'My Care' app gives an overview of medications, but also doesn't offer these ordering and tracking extras.
The supplements you do and don't need – we look at the evidence behind popular supplements, from vitamin B12 to vitamin C, iron and more to give you the lowdown on who might benefit
*Data sources: NHS Business Services Authority, NHS Wales, Public Health Scotland, Health and Social Care Northern Ireland
