Many pharmacies in England, Wales and Northern Ireland could cut their opening hours in protest over government funding, if a “work-to-rule” ballot passes.
The National Pharmacy Association says its unprecedented ballot of members could mean chemists keeping strictly to the 40 hours a week they are required to open in the government contract.
The NPA, which represents about half UK community pharmacies, some 6,000, says 1,500 have closed since 2016 because of workloads and budget cuts.
The Department of Health in England said the previous government had neglected pharmacies for years.
The NPA says core government pharmacy funding in England has fallen by 40% after adjusting for inflation, since 2015-16.
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It has called for an annual £1.3bn funding increase to plug the “financial hole”.
And pharmacists have argued for some time the drug tariff, which covers payments for services and medicines, is failing to cover their costs.
‘Hitting patients’
NPA chief executive Paul Rees said pharmacies were “being pushed to the brink” by a decade of real-terms cuts.
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“Pharmacies are routinely required to dispense NHS medicines at a loss – 1,500 have been forced to close in the past decade, while others have had to cut hours to try and make ends meet,” he said. And it was hitting patients hard.
Despite pay rises for junior doctors and train drivers since the election, there was no sign of an end to cuts putting pharmacies out of business, Mr Rees added.
Members of the NPA, which is not a trade union, will be balloted over six weeks and, if there is a vote in favour, there could be action before Christmas.
They will be asked if they support stopping providing services not covered by the central government contract.
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These include some emergency contraception, substance-misuse services and free medicine delivery, which are commissioned by local authorities.
The government contract, which pharmacies are obliged to observe, includes medicine dispensing, some consultations and flu or Covid vaccinations.
Members were not being asked to pull out of the scheme, the NPA said, but a reduction in opening hours to 40 per week would affect it.
Another pharmacy group takes a different view on the current situation.
Leyla Hannbeck, chief executive of the Independent Pharmacies Association said: “Our members are deeply embedded in their local communities and for them the idea of prematurely punishing patients by any type of strike action is unconscionable.”
Ms Hannbeck said the focus should be on engaging with the new ministers “in as constructive a way as possible”.
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Health is a devolved issue and pharmacists in Wales and Northern Ireland are being surveyed separately, because of similar concerns about funding.
But there is no discussion about protest action in Scotland, where the NPA says financial support is more adequate.
A Department of Health official covering England said: “Pharmacies are key to making healthcare fit for the future as we shift the focus of the NHS out of hospitals and into the community.
“We will make better use of pharmacists’ skills, including accelerating the rollout of independent prescribing to improve access to care.”
Last week JPMorgan made headlines by announcing it planned to cap its junior bankers’ working week to 80 hours (“High pressure, long days, crushing workloads: why is investment banking like this?”, FT Alphaville, FT.com, September 13).
The media and most western professionals and other workers will see that figure as extraordinarily high — but the small print makes clear that the cap will not apply when junior bankers are working on “live” deals.
The 80-hour working week, it seems, is the routine baseline expectation.
Former investment banker Craig Coben, author of the FT Alphaville piece, outlined the history and factors that make the long-hours culture a seemingly intractable fact of life across the investment banking industry — and other related sectors such as Big Law.
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As investment banking is a bespoke service the work cannot fit into a standard nine-to-five schedule. The question is: does this bespoke service require regular “all-nighters”?
Is this really the most efficient approach? Research shows that working long hours does not improve productivity. Studies document diminishing returns after a certain threshold — typically around 50 hours per week.
Coben also pointed to the mega-salaries junior bankers earn. In the end, there is no such thing as a free lunch in life.
They know what they are getting themselves into. The reality may not be as glamorous as it seems. Assuming an entry salary of £90,000, as indicated in the article, an 80-hour working week for 47 weeks a year — admittedly a very basic calculation — junior bankers would earn a higher hourly rate by doing private tutoring!
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Yes, this is partly down to the nature of the business but it is also a self-perpetuating culture that is blocking efforts to at least mitigate its worst excesses.
Addressing this could, in fact, positively impact productivity as well.
Sonia Falconieri Professor in Corporate Finance, Bayes Business School (formerly Cass), London EC1, UK
“We asked for a thorough investigation,” says Olivia.
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“That’s definitely what they’ve done as it’s been a while now.
“I hope the FA do the right thing.
“It’s important we don’t skim over what happened.”
Regardless of the outcome, the 25-year-old says there’s no way things can stay the same in women’s football.
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“I’d like to think that after what’s happened to my sister, there’s no way there can’t be any change.
“Maddy ultimately lost her life and her spirit to football and it’s important that nobody else goes through that.”
Maddy’s family has launched a foundation in her name to support women and girls in football and hopes to be a voice for them too.
“You can’t bury your head in the sand,” says Olivia.
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“You need to stand up for these girls and stand up for Maddy ultimately as well.
“We just really wanted to find what was missing and give these girls a voice.”
They recently hit a £50,000 milestone, something Olivia says she “never even dreamed of”.
“It made me really proud,” she says.
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“I thought, we could really change the game here and change young girls’ lives.”
‘I’m going to be like Maddy’
Some of the money raised goes towards supporting girls like eight-year-old Neveah, who idolised Maddy.
Neveah’s mum, Beth, tells Newsbeat the love started when she was assigned the same number football shirt.
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“She’d see Maddy play and say, ‘Mum that’s me – I’m number eight, I’m going to be like Maddy’.”
Last year, Neveah was a mascot for Sheffield United and chose to walk out with Maddy, which Beth says helped to “grow her love of football”.
When Maddy died, Beth says Neveah “took it really hard” and, in December, the foundation offered to pay for her to have new boots – something the family had done for Maddy every Christmas.
Since then it has also sponsored her kit.
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“She was very touched by that,” Beth says.
“We always get in touch with the family because she likes to tell them how many goals she’s scored for Maddy.”
Although Neveah is sometimes the only girl on the pitch, she is generally supported and encouraged in the sport, says Beth.
But she knows that might not always be the case, and that is why the work of the foundation is so important.
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“[Girls] need to know that support is available for them,” she says.
“I just hope Neveah’s journey through football, however long it is, continues to be positive.”
Olivia says her sister was “loved and adored and an inspiration to so many”.
“My main focus with the foundation is to carry that on for as long as I can and to bring her to life for as long as I can as well.”
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There will be a vigil for Maddy later and she will also be remembered at a match between Sheffield United and Derby County – the club Maddy supported – on Saturday.
“She would’ve been there for sure,” Olivia says of her big sister. “With a beaming smile.”
A spokesperson for Sheffield United told Newsbeat they were pleased to mark the anniversary with the match.
“The thoughts of everyone associated with Sheffield United Football Club remain with the Cusack family, as well as Maddy’s friends, colleagues and team-mates,” they added.
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The FA said it would not be appropriate to comment while it was still investigating.
If you’ve been affected by the issues raised in this article, help and support is available via BBC Action Line.
Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays – or listen back here.
No publication has bettered the FT for the coverage of Boeing’s downward and tragic flight path resulting from putting financial engineering (sic) before real engineering. Rereading John Gapper’s piece about the revival of Rolls-Royce’s fortunes (Opinion, September 13) I was surprised to see no words of caution about the possible consequences of too much “squeezing” of a product that must work perfectly throughout its life, and no warning on the potential for a Boeing outcome.
For me, I am always reassured when I look out from a window seat to see the classic black and silver RR logo on the engine housing. Long may this continue.
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