NHS Grampian has said Lloyds pharmacy in Westhill is failing to deliver on key obligations under regulations.
This includes being unable to dispense prescriptions with “reasonable promptness”.
The pharmacy at Westhill Shopping Centre has faced a backlash after many residents have reported waiting up to two hours for prescriptions and being offered the wrong medication in recent months.
It is the only pharmacy left serving the town, after Lloyds temporarily closed its other store in the town until August 28 due to staff shortages.
Concerns have been raised by locals in recent days as many customers have reported waiting for hours outside the pharmacy before being turned away when it closes for lunch.
NHS Grampian has encouraged residents to consider using other nearby pharmacies, including in Kingswells.
Lloyd’s failing to provide key pharmacy services
Due to the complaints and stress on services at the pharmacy over the past few months, NHS Grampian has said they have been trying to support Lloyds.
While they mentioned staff shortages, NHS Grampian stated that Lloyds had failed to deliver the obliged terms of services at the Westhill store – including dispensing prescriptions with “reasonable promptness”.
A spokesperson for NHS Grampian said: “We have been working to support Lloyds in delivering their contractual obligations in Westhill in recent months.
“Consolidation of staff from the two pharmacies into one and delivering full-time hours in the short term is aimed at ensuring residents can be provided with continuity of service. This consolidation started this week and is planned to run throughout August.
“We continue to be in dialogue with Lloyds regarding their failure to deliver the terms of service for Westhill they are obliged to under the Pharmaceutical Regulations.
“Key to those obligations is providing dispensing of prescriptions with ‘reasonable promptness’ throughout the pharmacy’s core hours of opening.
“Other pharmacies are also available in nearby communities, including Kingswells.”
Lloyds facing workforce challenges
A spokeswoman for Lloyd’s Pharmacy responded to the complaints on Thursday saying the business was “deeply sorry for the impact this has on the community”.
She added: “We are working closely with local health boards to ensure patients can access medicines and pharmacy services.
“We are actively recruiting to strengthen our teams, but recruiting new pharmacists and pharmacy team members has become increasingly difficult owing to a sector-wide shortage.
“These workforce challenges mark the pressures facing community pharmacy which require a sector-wide response; it is not something Lloyds Pharmacy and other community pharmacy providers can address on their own.
“As always, patient safety is paramount for us however we are operating, like the rest of the healthcare sector, in extraordinarily challenging times.”
It was mentioned that a recent spike in Covid-19 cases and rise in customer incidents has also had an impact on the service.
Lloyds was contacted on Friday to comment on NHS Grampian’s involvement in the continuing Westhill pharmacy disruption, but did not respond.
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