PHARMACISTS are using their personal savings and remortgaging their homes to keep their businesses afloat, a study found today.

Experts warned that financial struggles have left many in the sector “teetering on the brink” following a survey showing almost four in 10 pharmacies are unable to pay bills for medication on time.

Pharmacy leaders have urged the government to increase funding for services to secure the long-term sustainability of the industry.

The poll by Community Pharmacy England (CPE), which included the views of 800 pharmacy owners, or about 4,300 pharmacies, found 45 per cent have relied on personal savings or remortgages to subsidise their pharmacy in the last year.

Only 6 per cent said their pharmacy is profitable, while more than half (51 per cent) said they were losing money and 37 per cent were unable to pay wholesaler bills on time.

Janet Morrison, chief executive of CPE, which represents more than 10,000 community pharmacies, said pharmacists “have been under unbearable pressures for a number of years now.”

She said: “Rising costs across the board, combined with funding that was decreasing in real terms, have left pharmacy owners making impossible choices.

“For larger companies this has meant closures of pharmacy branches, and for smaller independent pharmacies we have seen enormous personal tolls, and increasing numbers of business insolvencies.

“The survey also reveals a deeply concerning trend of pharmacy owners fighting to keep their business afloat, and facing disastrous personal financial situations as a consequence.

“It is unthinkable that entrepreneurial, patient-facing health professionals who have spent their lives providing high-quality NHS services, are being left in this very desperate position.

“Pharmacy owners should not be subsidising NHS services from their own pockets.

“They should be focusing on supporting patients and planning for the future, not worrying about how to keep the lights on.”

Analysis by the National Pharmacy Association, which represents 6,000 independent community pharmacies in Britain, found that 72 pharmacies have closed in England this year so far, the equivalent of two a week.

The Department of Health and Social Care said it has increased funding to community pharmacies to almost £3.1 billion this year — the largest uplift in funding of any part of the NHS for 2025/2026.