Question mark over future of pharmacies in Shropshire and Mid Wales
LloydsPharmacy has announced it will close nearly 200 stores across England – but bosses say it is too early to say if any branches in Shropshire or Mid Wales will be affected.
LloydsPharmacy’s owner, Celesio UK, said that about 190 pharmacies would cease to trade through a combination of closures and disinvestments.
The healthcare provider says it is a result of recent NHS England cuts to reimbursement policy and increases in retrospective clawbacks.
Cormac Tobin, managing director of Celesio UK, said: “Community pharmacy needs to adapt to the changing requirements of patients and the NHS, indeed it should be part of the solution to an overstretched health service. To achieve this we need a new operational framework that creates a thriving pharmacy network that continues to offer essential integrated healthcare and is rooted in local communities.
“We must respond to the dramatic funding and reimbursement cuts over the past 24 months but we will be doing all that we can to support our affected.”
Celesio UK said it was too early to say which stores will close.
There are LloydsPharmacy stores in Shrewsbury and Telford. The Newtown site in Powys will not be affected in Powys.
