John James/Alamy.com
Nearly two-thirds (60%; n=147) of pharmacy owners in Wales remortgaged their house or used personal savings to keep their doors to keep their business running in 2025, a survey conducted by the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has revealed.
Results of the survey, published on 12 February 2026, also found that one-third (33%; n=81) of pharmacy owners reported that they had been unable to pay wholesalers on time or in full at some point in 2025.
The NPA surveyed more than one-third of pharmacies in Wales (n=246) in January 2026.
In addition, the survey results showed that none of the respondents said they had sufficient funding to deliver core services set out in their NHS Wales contact, while only 4% (n=10) said they were in a financial position to be able to support the Welsh government’s ‘Presgripsiwn newydd — a new prescription‘.
The NPA has called upon the Welsh government to “provide pharmacies in Wales with an urgent stabilisation payment, similar to what has been offered to GPs, to prevent pharmacies from crumbling under the strain of stagnant funding and increasing costs”.
David Thomas, a member of the NPA board for Wales, said: “It is simply unsustainable and unfair to expect individual pharmacy owners to remortgage their house and dip into their pension pot to subsidise the cost of prescriptions and to keep their doors open for their patients.
“Pharmacies are hanging on by their fingertips and something has to change. Without urgent action, the government risks pharmacies closing for good and their new prescription service going up in smoke.
“To prevent this from happening, the government should step in and offer pharmacies a stabilisation payment, similar to recently offered to GP colleagues.”
Russell Goodway, chief executive at Community Pharmacy Wales (CPW), said the NPA’s findings “closely mirror our own evidence”.
“[CPW] has been in ongoing dialogue with the Welsh government cabinet secretary for Health and Social Care since before Christmas, seeking to secure a recurring stabilisation payment. Such support is essential to prevent further deterioration and to safeguard the sustainability of the sector,” he added.
“We will continue to make a strong and evidence-based case for the additional resources that are urgently needed.”
A spokesperson for the Welsh government said: “We recognise that community pharmacies are an essential part of primary care.
“We have made significant investment in the sector in recent years, including increasing funding for core services like dispensing and record funding to enable reforms which support pharmacies to provide services.
“We have increased funding for community pharmacies by more than £40m since reforms began in 2017. This includes providing above inflation increases in recurrent funding in the past two years, a stability payment of £6m to meet specific cost pressures faced by the sector, and over £1m in grant funding to make premises improvements to more than 100 pharmacies in all parts of Wales.”
In November 2025, Jeremy Miles, Welsh cabinet secretary for health and social care, said that community pharmacies in Wales would receive a 4% funding uplift under the ‘Community pharmacy contractual framework’ for 2025/2026.
