Last week across Fermanagh, pharmacies were in darkness.

Lights were turned off and windows blackened out as pharmacies demonstrated their anger and frustration at the ‘dark state’ of community pharmacy funding as the sector faces a crisis.

Pharmacies were in darkness for a time on June 20 as from the 20th of each month the average pharmacy is loss-making & pharmacy services are effectively being subsidised by the pharmacy owner.

Pharmacist Joe McAleer who runs Belcoo Pharmacy and Erne Pharmacy joined the blackout.

Mr. McAleer is the Fermanagh/Western representative for Community Pharmacy NI and explained why pharmacies are taking action.

He said: “Our pharmacy teams are finding it increasingly difficult to deliver the care we wish to provide to our patients as we struggle to source medicines which often cost us much much more than we get paid for them. We need our politicians and the Department of Health to recognise the shortfall in pharmacy funding and to properly fund the service so patients are not continually affected by the lack of services and delays in medicines they are currently experiencing.”