In October 2017, LloydsPharmacy announced plans to close or sell 190 branches across the country.
On the Isle of Wight, the branch on Carisbrooke Road, Newport was the first casualty, closing at the end of last week with customers now being redirected to the Pyle Street branch.
A spokesperson for LloydsPharmacy told OnTheWight,
“We fully understand the impact that such changes can have on local communities, especially for people that have been customers for a long period of time.
“As part of our decision making process, we have looked at other community pharmacy provision in the area, with a view to mitigating the impact on patients as much as possible. We will be taking every opportunity to direct patients to other community pharmacies in the area and to support a smooth transition to facilitate an uninterrupted service.
“We will also be supporting colleagues at this difficult time and redeploying members of the team, where possible, to other LloydsPharmacy locations where vacancies exist.”
Ventnor branch being sold
The company also confirmed that the small branch in Ventnor (situated next to the Ventnor Medical Centre) is in the process of being sold.
They were unable to share details of the purchaser.
Down to five branches
This will leave the pharmacy chain with five branches on the Isle of Wight; East Cowes; Ryde; Sandown; Pyle Street Newport; as well as one in store at Newport Sainsburys.
A spokesperson for the company said there were no plans for any of the other branches to close.
The recent closure was part of a reorganisation announced last autumn when Cormac Tobin, managing director, Celesio UK, said,
“Changes to government policy on reimbursement and retrospective clawbacks over the past two years have gradually made operations at many LloydsPharmacy stores commercially unviable. We will be doing all that we can to support our affected colleagues and minimise disruption for patients.
“As a company we pride ourselves on putting the customer first by constantly finding new ways to evolve in order to achieve excellence in quality, safety and efficiency for the NHS. We look forward to working with NHS England in the future to ensure that we can shape a new framework which allows us to invest, innovate and continually improve our service to patients.”
Our thoughts are with those who might have lost their jobs.
