Sainsbury's is set for a huge change as Lloyds Pharmacy has announced it will close all of its sites in the supermarket.
The pharmacy chain currently has 237 outlets in Sainsbury's sites across the country. However, Lloyds Pharmacy has confirmed it has cut the services following a strategic review "in response to changing market conditions".
The process is expected to be completed over the course of 2023 as Lloyds Pharmacy said it will confirm exact closure plans on a "branch-by-branch" basis. The chief executive officer of the pharmacy chain said the decision has "not been an easy one".
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Kevin Birch added: "We understand that our patients and customers may have questions about how the change will affect them. We would like to thank them for their continued support and assure them that we are committed to providing a smooth transition over the coming months.
"I am very grateful to all our colleagues for their dedication to our patients, customers and communities."
A Sainsbury's spokeswoman said: "Lloyds Pharmacy is withdrawing pharmacy services from our stores over the coming months. We will work with them to ensure customers are clear on how they can access an alternative pharmacy provision to meet their needs."
The decision comes seven years after Lloyds Pharmacy first snapped up the pharmacies from the retailer for £125m. It comes amid growing pressure on the UK pharmacy sector, following calls for increased state funding support.
Nigel Swift, deputy managing director at pharmacy group Phoenix UK, said: "This announcement is the clearest possible sign of the dire situation facing community pharmacy in England as a result of insufficient government funding.
"Since the start of the pharmacy contract there has been a massive cut in real-term funding resulting in hundreds of closures. This has to be a wake-up call for government."
A Department of Health spokesperson said: "Community pharmacies play a vital role in our healthcare system and we back them with £2.6bn a year. On top of this, we have announced a further £100m investment in the sector to help support services.
"We are carefully monitoring access to pharmaceutical services. About 80% of people live within 20 minutes of a community pharmacy and there remains twice as many pharmacies in deprived areas compared to less deprived areas."
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