A NATIONAL shortage of pharmacists has hit Peebles, a meeting has heard.
On Friday (July 22), the High Street branch of the Boots pharmacy in the city was closed until 2pm.
And a notice on the door stated that the closure was due to the unavailability of a pharmacist.
Inside, the staff could be seen at work and not only the prescription service was closed, but the entire store.
For many months, Boots is closed for an hour at lunchtime.
During the July meeting of Peebles and District Community Council Secretary Anne Snoddy said: “There are some concerns about Boots and they have not responded to my first email.
“It was closed all day Saturday (July 9) without notice, neither on Facebook nor on the door and it is also closed at lunchtime.
“I was wondering if that’s an ongoing problem or if it’s short-lived?”
Tweeddale West Councilor Drummond Begg, who is also a GP, added: “The main problem is a nationwide lack of community pharmacists.”
Boots is owned by an American health giant, Walgreen Boots Alliance, and has at least 69 job openings for pharmacists in Scotland on its UK career website, including one in Peebles.
In Galashiels there are two vacancies in the branch in Gala Water Park, for a full time and emergency pharmacist.
Nationally, the office has more than 800 pharmacy vacancies and 2,860 vacancies for all types of employment.
A Boots spokesperson said: “Like other pharmacies, we are experiencing some challenges with pharmacists’ resources.
“Our teams are working hard to keep stores open, minimize disruption to customers and provide the best possible service.
“Sometimes we adjust our opening hours instead of closing a pharmacy for a day.”
dr. Begg added: “One thing that would help efficiency is the introduction of an electronic prescribing service.
“Both are matters of the Scottish Government.”
PCC chairman Les Turnbull said it is quite disturbing that the pharmacy is not working properly and asked Ms Snoddy to email the Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale MSP Christine Grahame.
Commenting on Peeblesshire News, Ms Grahame said: “I am aware of the concerns about this and my office replied to Ms Snoddy last week.
“In terms of opening times and availability, pharmacies are under contract with the NHS Board to provide services so if the local community so wishes I am happy to write to NHS Borders to raise this.
“Electronic Prescription Transfer (ETP) is already happening in Scotland, although it’s not available in all institutions as it depends on the GP practice and local pharmacies willing to do it – this is similar to the situation in England.
“However, there will now be patients in the Borders using these types of systems.
“Again, if there is a specific concern about this, I’m happy to raise it if voters reach out.
“I hope Boots will now reach out to the local community to address some of these concerns.”
Boots spokesperson said: “We apologize to customers who have been affected and thank them for their patience and kindness to our team members at this time.”
The meeting was also briefed on an update on the city’s Lloyds Pharmacy.
On June 17, the Peeblesshire News reported that an 83-year-old woman had to wait four hours at the pharmacy.
At a recent meeting of Peebles and the District Community Council, her secretary Anne Snoddy said: “Lloyds has confirmed that the problems were caused by the implementation of a new computer system.
“Their regional manager was made aware of our concerns and supported the pharmacy team to ensure that an optimal level of service can be achieved again.
“At the time of writing, things have improved. They are not perfect, but are getting better.”