PHARMACISTS USING SAVINGS TO STAY AFLOAT

Chemists faced '30% real-term funding cuts'

- BY SIMON MURPHY

NEARLY half of chemists have used personal savings to stay in business and faced problems paying bills, a survey reveals.

The Community Pharmacy England, representing more than 10,000 businesses, found almost four in 10 pharmacy owners were unable to pay wholesaler bills on time.

And 45% relied on their own savings to subsidise their pharmacy business, according to the poll carried out between January and March.