Two Isle of Wight pharmacies are extending their core contracted opening hours until later in the evening to help improve access to pharmacy services.
Boots in Sandown and Day Lewis in Newport will provide additional evening pharmacy coverage across the working week, extending their core contracted hours from 5.30pm to 8.30pm on designated days.
Who is opening later, and when
Boots in Sandown will provide the extended hours on Mondays and Tuesdays, while Day Lewis in Newport will cover Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.
Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment behind the change
The changes follow the Isle of Wight Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment, which helps identify the pharmaceutical services needed by local communities and informs the planning and commissioning of pharmacy provision.
James Roach, Director of Neighbourhood Health for NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight, said,#
“The Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment helps us understand the pharmacy services our communities need and identify opportunities to improve access.
“Extending core contracted pharmacy hours until 8.30pm is a practical step towards making pharmacy services more accessible across the Island.
“Community pharmacies provide much more than prescriptions, and services such as NHS Pharmacy First mean pharmacists can also access and support eligible patients with a range of common conditions.
“We are grateful to both pharmacies for supporting these arrangements and helping strengthen community pharmacy provision on the Isle of Wight.”
What Pharmacy First offers
Pharmacy First enables community pharmacists to provide advice and, where clinically appropriate, treatment for seven common conditions without patients needing to see a GP first. These include sinusitis, sore throat, earache, infected insect bites, impetigo, shingles and uncomplicated urinary tract infections in eligible women.
Start date and pharmacy comments:
Both pharmacies will begin their new core contract hours from Monday 19th October 2026.
Karen Alexander, Isle of Wight Area Manager at Boots, said,
“We are pleased to support the extended evening pharmacy provision on the Isle of Wight, with our Sandown pharmacy open until 8.30pm on Mondays and Tuesdays.
“Extended opening gives our local community greater flexibility to access pharmacy advice and support, including information about NHS Pharmacy First.
“We look forward to continuing to support the health and wellbeing of people in Sandown and the surrounding area.”
A spokesperson for Day Lewis Pharmacy said,
“We are delighted to be providing later pharmacy access for people on the Island until 8.30pm on Wednesday, Thursday and Fridays.
“Community pharmacies play an important role in helping people manage their health, from advice on medicines to services such as NHS Pharmacy First, which can provide assessment and treatment for eligible patients with certain common conditions.
“We hope these additional hours will make it easier for people to access pharmacy support around their work and family commitments and help them find the right care when they need it.
“For patients looking to collect their prescription outside of our new extended hours, Day Lewis also provides access to 24/7 prescription collection kiosks situated at their Newport, Cowes, Shanklin and Wootton Bridge locations on the Island, please speak to a member of the Pharmacy team to sign up for this service.”
News shared on behalf of Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board. Ed
