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Lloyds Pharmacy in Westhill reopens following queue chaos earlier this month

There were no queues outside the Westhill Shopping Centre branch on Tuesday now both pharmacies are open again.
There were no queues outside the Westhill Shopping Centre branch on Tuesday now both pharmacies are open again.

Lloyds Pharmacy in Westhill has reopened following a temporary closure due to staff shortages.

The branch, based at Arnhall Business Park, was forced to close because of a spike in Covid cases and difficulties with recruitment.

The pharmacy welcomed back customers on Monday after four weeks of consolidation to the town’s other branch at Westhill Shopping Centre.

Earlier this month, The Press and Journal reported that customers were facing a two-hour wait to pick up prescriptions while there was only one pharmacy open.

Pictured is the queue and security van outside Lloyd’s Pharmacy on August 8. Picture by Darrell Benns/DC Thomson.

Customers said doors were locked while staff went on their lunch break and prescriptions were lost amid the “huge backlog”.

This afternoon, there were no queues at either store and customers appeared to be able to pick up prescriptions quickly.

The newly reopened branch had a sign on display stating the wait for prescriptions will be around 20 minutes – significantly shorter than it was just a few weeks ago.

There were no long queues at the Westhill Shopping Centre branch on August 30.

Resolving issues

Westhill Shopping Centre stepped in to provide chairs and water for customers waiting in the 25C heat, and set up a temporary queuing system outside the shop.

Even though the queue barriers took up three parent parking spaces, the centre said it was required for health and safety.

Centre staff also met with Lloyds Pharmacy senior management to put forward customers concerns.

Meanwhile, NHS Grampian encouraged people to consider using other nearby pharmacies, including Kingswells, stating that the Westhill branch was failing to “deliver the terms of service” as a pharmacy.

Both pharmacies in Westhill are displaying job adverts.

The reopening of the Arnhall Business Park branch suggests the company has been able to resolve the issue of staff shortages.

Both pharmacies in the Aberdeenshire town currently have signs in their window advertising job vacancies.

A Lloyds Pharmacy spokeswoman said: “To return our pharmacies in the Westhill community to normal, we have been working hard over recent weeks to recruit new team members.

“Our LloydsPharmacy in Arnhall Business Park Place, Westhill is open again, and patients can now access medicines and pharmacy services as usual.

“Patient safety is paramount for us and we apologise to our customers and patients for any inconvenience caused.

“Legally a pharmacist must be present in the store for it to open and to give patients their prescriptions, therefore at times when a locum pharmacist can’t be sourced in times of sickness and absence our last resort is to temporarily close.

“Our priority is always to ensure that the community we serve can access the care they need, so in the event of a closure, we signpost customers to alternative pharmacies in the area.

“We are continuing to work together with other community pharmacy operators and the NHS to address these sector-wide workforce challenges.”

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