Tesco will close its eight in-store pharmacies from August this year.
The eight pharmacies which are said to be affected are so-called 100-hour locations, situated in superstores with extended opening hours. Tesco has not yet confirmed the sites that will shut, but they will be in locations that are not seeing enough users to justify their long opening hours and where there are other pharmacies within one mile.
The supermarket chain told the Chemist and Druggist (C&D) magazine that it was pressing ahead with the closures just months after the idea was first mooted on January 31 in order to “remain focused and competitive in a fast-changing market”. The plans also included shutting the remaining counters and hot deli.
Read more: Full list of Lloyds Pharmacies at risk of closure including Newcastle, Sunderland and County Durham
The supermarket said that it is helping customers using the affected pharmacies to move their prescriptions to nearby pharmacies a short distance away, although the branches set for closure will continue to sell general medicines in the main store. Tesco said in January that it would work hard to find roles for affected pharmacy staff in nearby Tesco branches.
In 2022, Tesco had around 370 pharmacies across the UK which other services such as flu jabs, NHS blood pressure checks and type 2 diabetes risk assessments as well as dispensing prescriptions.
This is not the first raft of supermarket pharmacy closure, as Lloyds Pharmacy announces it was to close its 237 Sainsbury's branches this year, including those in Heaton, Team Valley, Whitley Bay, Cramlington, Sunderland, Sunderland North and Durham. Sainsbury's blamed the cuts to its services on “changing market conditions”.
Asda also announced earlier this year it was to close seven of its 254 in store pharmacies this year, including the branch inside the Seaham store.
There have also been reports that dozens of Lloyds Pharmacy branches across the North East and beyond are at risk of being closed down in addition to those inside Sainsbury's stores. The chain is the UK's second-largest pharmacy chain behind Boots, with around 1,300 shops throughout the UK
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said that about 80% of people live within 20 minutes of a community pharmacy: “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,” they said.
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