Sainsbury’s is set to lose its in-store pharmacies across all its stores, it has been announced.
LloydsPharmacy revealed it has cut its services following a recent strategic review and blamed “changing market conditions”.
The chain had 237 sites within the supermarket which will be removed over 2023.
It has not revealed how many pharmacy workers the removals will affect.
Kevin Birch, chief executive officer of LloydsPharmacy, said: “This decision has not been an easy one and we understand that our patients and customers may have questions about how the change will affect them
“We would like to thank them for their continued support and assure them that we are committed to providing a smooth transition over the coming months.
“I am very grateful to all our colleagues for their dedication to our patients, customers and communities.”
The decision comes seven years after LloydsPharmacy first snapped up the pharmacies from the retailer for £125 million.
It runs around 1,400 pharmacies across the UK.
A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said: “LloydsPharmacy is withdrawing pharmacy services from our stores over the coming months.
“We will work with them to ensure customers are clear on how they can access an alternative pharmacy provision to meet their needs.”
Mark Pitt, Assistant General Secretary of the PDA Union added: “We have seen many disposals of LloydsPharmacy branches over recent months and we know more may occur, however for every disposal there has been a buyer, therefore patients and communities have seen no reduction in availability, the pharmacy network has not lost capacity and there were no job losses.
“This situation is different and means significant reductions in access to a pharmacy for patients and we expect those who represent communities to be concerned about the loss of a key part of their local NHS service.
“Forward-thinking governments around the UK are seeking to make greater use of pharmacies as the most accessible contact point in the NHS, to reduce pressure on other parts of the healthcare system, so there should be greater community pharmacy capacity, not less.
“The PDA Union will be working tirelessly to avoid job losses for pharmacists, and we will be protecting their interests. It’s important in these situations that any distress caused to individuals is kept to a minimum and that everyone is treated with respect and dignity.
“Those pharmacists who are PDA members can contact our service centre for advice in due course and in the meantime should ensure they read communications from the PDA.”
