Unauthorised Closure of Pharmacies
There may be occasions when a contractor is unable to open its premises for a reason that is beyond its control.
This includes:
• flooding of premises;
• lack of electricity;
• premises have been broken into; and
• Pharmacist has not arrived
It does not include planned refurbishment. It also does not include situations where the pharmacy occupies part of a larger building and the rest of the premises are closed as it is expected that contractors will have put in place arrangements to ensure they are able to fulfil their terms of service regarding their core and supplementary opening hours.
We would like to highlight the list of actions below, that although are not contractual, we would recommend contractors complete in the event of a closure.
Notify the Herts. and West Essex ICB Regional Pharmacy Contracting Team Email: hweicbhv.pharmacy@nhs.net
Please state: Pharmacy name and address, Name of person reporting closure, Date of closure, Times of closure, Reason for closure, Detail what arrangements have been made for patients.
Inform Turning point if patients accessing medications for drug and alcohol services may be affected and discuss alternative arrangements and how patients will be informed. Email: suffolk@turning-point.co.uk
Notify local pharmacies which patients may choose to access during the closure.
Notify local surgeries to ensure they are able to deal with patient queries and do not send CPCS referrals.
Consider if staff will be on the premises and how prescriptions will be returned to the spine.
Ensure clear signage: is available for patients including any relevant contact details and details of alternative arrangements.
Update the NHS website and Directory of Services (DoS) pharmacy profile. This is a requirement of your NHS Terms of Service. It is important to keep the opening times on your NHS website profile up-to-date and to reflect any temporary closures. Read more about updating your pharmacy profile and DoS entries at: NHS Profile Manager.
Business Continuity Plan: A reminder that all pharmacies should have a Business Continuity Plan in place by the 31st July 2023 as set out in the PSNC Briefing: DHSCs changes to the Pharmaceutical Regulations.
Please see CPE Business continuity plans required for temporary closures from 31st July news piece that includes a briefing, template Business Continuity Plan and a checklist for your use.
Where there is a temporary closure outside of the contractor’s control they are required by the 2013 Regulations to notify the NHS England Area Team (AT). As of the 1st April 2023, the NHS England regional contracting team was transferred to Herts. and West Essex ICB.
Suffolk contractors need to notify any closures via the following email address:
The following information should be provided to enable the Area Team to determine whether any follow up action is required.
| Pharmacy name and address |
| Name of person reporting closure |
| Date of closure |
| Times of closure |
| Reason for closure |
| Detail what arrangements have been made for patients |
If the closure is for part of a day please remember to inform the Contracting Team when the pharmacy has reopened.
Please remember to display a notice to customers to inform them of the situation and the nearest pharmacies. You find the template CPE Pharmacy closed poster useful.
The Pharmacy should take whatever action it can in the circumstances to mitigate any inconvenience to its patients and other users of the pharmacy and make every effort to inform local interested parties of the details of the temporary suspension.
Clients receiving pharmacy services for supervised consumption/daily CD collection can be left especially vulnerable when a pharmacy is unable to open at short notice. Pharmacies providing these services should give careful consideration as to how this patient group can be supported should the pharmacy be unable to open. Please make sure you have notified local commissioners and providers supporting you to provide this sort of service.
Public Health Suffolk can be notified on admin.publichealthsuffolk@suffolk.gov.uk.
Turning point contacts are listed on this page.
Depending on how long the temporary suspension will or may last and the impact this will have on the provision of pharmaceutical services it may be necessary for the Pharmacy Contracting Team to direct another contractor to open on different days or at different times. They will look to inform local interested parties where the temporary suspension is likely to last for more than one day.
The Pharmacy Contracting Team will review the reason for the temporary suspension and where it appears to be within the control of the contractor, and therefore a potential breach of a pharmacy’s terms and conditions, this could be notified to pharmaceutical services regulations committee. The committee will then decide what, if any, further action to take under the policy and procedure for managing the performance of providers of pharmaceutical services.
Where a contractor knows in advance that it will not be able to open its premises it may request a temporary suspension of services for a set period. Three months’ notice must be given. Where less than three months’ notice has been given the request will be returned to the contractor advising that it has been refused.
