Lloyds Pharmacy has announced it is pulling out of Sainsbury’s stores – including Penrith.
The company is withdrawing from a total of 237 of the supermarket’s branches during 2023 following a strategic review, it was reported this afternoon.
A member of staff at the pharmacy in Penrith said they could not directly comment on the announcement.
Sainsbury’s public relations advisers have been approached. At this stage, it is unclear when the service may withdraw from Penrith with the timeline varying branch by branch.
In 2015, Sainsbury’s sold its on-site pharmacy businesses to Lloyds, which is now walking away from the arrangement with reports 2,000 jobs are now at risk.
Lloyds’ high street pharmacies will remain open. A report this week from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, the sector’s professional body, warned that pharmacy staff are facing burnout.
They face growing pressure on services and a lack of resources, with mental health being affected and experts saying the funding model for pharmacies is broken.
