Pharmacies in England must be open during their contracted hours, unless these fall on a public or bank holiday, NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE&I) confirmed this morning (September 12).

But in a letter to community pharmacies and commissioners,  NHSE&I director of primary care Ursula Montgomery set out “expectations” to ensure patient access to primary care services on September 19.

NHSE&I regional teams “will need to work with” community pharmacy providers “to confirm available services on the bank holiday”, Dr Montgomery wrote.

This is to ensure “patients can continue to access urgent dental care and have continuing convenient access to medicines”, she added.

Read more: Pharmacy bodies pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth II as national mourning begins

However, primary care commissioners and providers should also note “the likelihood of closures among schools and childcare settings, impacting childcare arrangements”, she wrote.

“Supermarkets or large stores may also close or operate reduced opening hours impacting in-store pharmacy opening,” she added.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy confirmed that September 19 will be a “bank holiday to mark the last day of the period of national mourning” in a statement released on Saturday.

The bank holiday was granted to allow “individuals, businesses and other organisations to pay their respects to Her Majesty and commemorate Her reign”.

However, it added that time off or additional pay for those who work on the bank holiday are “a matter for discussion between individuals and their employer”.

 

COVID-19 vaccination services

 

Clinics including pharmacies offering the COVID-19 booster vaccination programme – which formally begins today – are “strongly” encouraged to provide the service, “particularly where there is high population need”, Dr Montgomery noted in her letter.

Contractors offering the COVID-19 booster service should liaise with local commissioners should they need to “flex or condense hours”, she said.

Read more: Deja-flu: NHS confirms COVID booster campaign and flu jab launch dates

But scheduled care home visits, “which are a high priority for the programme”, should be “maintained and delivered as planned”, Dr Montgomery added.

 

Wales: LHBs contacting community pharmacies

 

Meanwhile in Wales, local health boards (LHBs) are currently “in the process of contacting all community pharmacies”, Judy Thomas, the director for contractor services at Community Pharmacy Wales, told C+D today.

This is to “ascertain their intentions as to whether they intend to close for the day of the Queen’s funeral or remain open”.

Following contact, LHBs will “look to commission rotas to meet any gaps in provision, with the intention that these are confirmed as soon as possible”, Ms Thomas added.

 

Scotland and Northern Ireland

 

Matt Barclay, director of operations at Community Pharmacy Scotland, told C+D that he hopes official communication on bank holiday arrangements will be "forthcoming quickly".

C+D understands that the Scottish government will release guidance later today on bank holiday provision for community pharmacies.

Northern Ireland’s Health and Social Care Board has also been approached for comment.

Voices from across the pharmacy sector paid tribute to Queen Elizabeth II last week, following her death on Thursday.

Meanwhile, NHSE&I chief executive Amanda Pritchard announced on Friday (September 9) that NHSE&I was pausing all non-essential communications until after the Queen’s state funeral.