The leaflets, which the supermarket has attached to C+D, will be displayed on the counters of the pharmacy when the branch is due to close, first allowing patients to collect their medication from other nearby Tesco Pharmacy branches, leaving an empty space for the staff to get in the name of the other store.
Only then do the leaflets refer patients to the NHS website and the NHS111 number, so that they can find the details of other pharmacies.
Read more: Tesco points to ‘higher’ fixed locum rates after low hourly wage claims
Tesco thinks it is not easy to refer patients on these leaflets to other local pharmacies, C+D understands, because it is difficult to keep up with the pharmacies in the different catchment areas of its 370-plus locations.
Images of the leaflets surfaced on Twitter earlier this week.
In response to a tweet featuring a photo of one of the leaflets, Paul Flynn, the Pharmacists’ Defense Association (PDA) Union’s national officer for Scotland, called the move “totally unethical”.
Meanwhile, CEO of Pharmacy Cooperative Tohidul Islam tweeted that the move suggested the supermarket chain expected “many closures”.
I get it @Tesco has sent these leaflets to their pharmacies. I think they expect a lot of closings that have done the rate cap. I think every little bit helps pic.twitter.com/bbMSVBzkuv
— Tohidul Islam MRPharmS 🇵🇸 (@TohidMPharm) July 24, 2022
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It comes after the PDA claimed last week (July 19) that Tesco was closing its pharmacies when coverage could not be found, after reportedly putting pressure on local pharmacists to backtrack on pre-agreed rates or reduce the risk. to miss out on services.
The supermarket did not respond directly to these allegations when C+D approached him for comment.
Instead, it pointed to the new fixed locum rates – capped at £36 per hour for emergency cover – that it debuted in its pharmacies earlier this month. These rates will lead to a higher hourly rate for most of the locums Tesco engages, she claimed.
Read more: Off their cart: Has Tesco Pharmacy pushed the locum rate row to new heights?
A spokesperson told C+D last week that Tesco’s pharmacy managers are “working to ensure” [pharmacies] have the cover [they] need” in areas of “particularly challenging” demand, in response to claims it is unnecessarily closing pharmacies in the short term.
The supermarket chain knows it has a duty to provide pharmacy services in stores where it is NHS licensed and will do everything it can to ensure pharmacies remain open, C+D understands.
The PDA published a blistering open letter last week (July 19), in which some major community pharmacy chains called out “unnecessary” full or partial branch closures.
The Company Chemists’ Association issued its own response to the union’s letter, detailing the staffing problem facing that pharmacy sector and defending the major chains that make up its membership for “exceedingly hard work to avoid temporary closures.” .