According to the study, more than 1,000 pharmacies and clinics have closed since 2015

More than 1,000 GP surgeries and pharmacies have closed in the past seven years – forcing patients to continue traveling for treatment, a damning study shows today.

A comprehensive review of official data on new openings and permanent closures from 2015 to 2022 reveals the damage done to basic services in England.

It turned out there was a net loss of 670 pharmacies and 343 GP surgeries over that period, with the most deprived areas being hit the hardest.

Industry leaders and MPs last night warned the government not to be “sleepwalking into disaster” and called for urgent action to halt the decline.

Analysis by the Company Chemists’ Association, which represents large pharmacy operators like Boots, found that 37 percent of the closures were in the 20 percent of the most deprived areas.

It turned out there was a net loss of 670 pharmacies and 343 GP surgeries over that period, with the most deprived areas being hit the hardest

Analysis by the Company Chemists’ Association, which represents large pharmacy operators like Boots, found that 37 percent of the closures were in the 20 percent of the most deprived areas

Blaming a lack of funding for the losses, she fears some towns and villages could soon become “cold spots” – where access to basic services is “significantly limited or inadequate”.

Basic services are “essential for access to the NHS, but also for the health and economic prosperity of the population”. The warning comes as the government prepares to release a plan to restore primary care, which is expected to detail how ministers will address record levels of public satisfaction with GP surgeries. It is likely that pharmacists will play a bigger role.

Malcolm Harrison, chief executive of the Company Chemists’ Association, said: “Government is sleepwalking into a basic service disaster and we could soon be seeing basic service cold spots emerge in different parts of England.”

Professor Kamila Hawthorne, Chair of the Royal College of GPs, said patients in disadvantaged areas often have more complex health needs.

She added: “The loss of a GP practice or pharmacy in these areas will have a major impact on the community.

“Decades of underfunding and poor personnel planning have plunged the family doctor’s practice into a crisis.”

A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care said the number of GPs has increased in recent years when trainees are included, adding: “There are still twice as many pharmacies in disadvantaged areas than in less disadvantaged areas.” .

“Sleepwalking into a basic services disaster”