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Only 14% of community pharmacies in England are profitable, an annual survey conducted by Community Pharmacy England (CPE) has revealed.
Results of the negotiator’s pharmacy pressures survey, published on 14 July 2026, also showed that one-quarter (25%) of pharmacy owners or directors had not taken any salary or income in the past year.
Pharmacy owners representing 2,936 pharmacies responded to an online questionnaire, which ran between mid-February and mid-April 2026. In addition, a further 900 pharmacy team members responded to a separate questionnaire, asking about their experiences for the survey.
The survey results found that the vast majority of respondents (99%) said that NHS reimbursement did not cover the cost of medicines, while a similar proportion (95%) said that rising staffing costs was a key pressure.
In nearly one-fifth (18%) of pharmacies, staff had been made redundant, while almost one-third (30%) of pharmacies had reduced their opening hours in 2025 — with two in ten (21%) expecting to have to reduce hours in the near future, the survey results revealed.
The survey results also showed that medicines shortages continue to be a major pressure point — 88% of pharmacy team members said that patients were having to make repeat visits to multiple pharmacies to either seek advice or obtain the medicine they needed.
In addition, in 86% of pharmacies, medicines procurement is taking up more time compared with the previous year, according to the survey results.
Janet Morrison, chief executive of CPE: “These stark results show us once again that pharmacies are not sustainable, and that the pressures on them are directly affecting patient access to medicines and care.
“Without further investment, pharmacy closures will continue, and this will have very worrying consequences for patients and the public, impacting their access to medicines and advice directly. We know that closures often happen in areas where healthcare support is needed most, so this will worsen health inequalities.”
“For all their sakes, and for the future of the NHS, community pharmacies need a sustainable future: meaning investment alongside a clear long-term plan for the sector.”
Commenting on the survey results, Henry Gregg, chief executive of the National Pharmacy Association, said: “It is not fair or sustainable for the personal savings or overdrafts of individual pharmacy owners to be used to subsidise the running of a vital NHS service.
“There is no doubt that May’s funding uplift, only the second real-terms funding uplift pharmacies have had since 2014, was a positive step forwards by the government. However, pharmacies still face a funding gap of over £2bn, and until there is meaningful progress in meeting this, pharmacies will continue to have to cut back services to patients and in some instances close entirely.”
Malcolm Harrison, chief executive of the Company Chemists’ Association, said: “While recent funding uplifts have are welcome, much more needs to be done to stabilise the sector for the long term. Community pharmacies need year-on-year, above-inflation funding increases to ensure they can continue to meet rising costs and growing demand.
“The government needs to act to stabilise the long-term future of the sector. Without proper investment, more pharmacies could be forced to close, putting patients at risk of losing access to the medicines they rely on.”
Leyla Hannbeck, chief executive of the Independent Pharmacies Association (IPA), said the findings were “deeply alarming and confirm what the IPA has been warning for months”.
“The government must now act. That means ending the ludicrous situation where pharmacies are expected to dispense medicines at a loss, introducing the same business rates relief that GP surgeries and dental practices receive, and delivering the long-term structural reforms needed to put community pharmacy on a sustainable footing,” she added.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “Community pharmacies are a vital front door to the NHS, which is why this government has provided them with the largest funding uplift of any part of the health service for the third year running.
“We recognise that community pharmacies continue to face pressures, and we are committed to working in partnership with the sector to deliver the long-term reform it needs.
“That is why we have also agreed the rollout of independent prescribing from autumn 2026, giving pharmacies a bigger clinical role and a more sustainable future as part of our neighbourhood health service.”
