LloydsPharmacy has begun offering lateral flow tests in some of its Scottish and Welsh branches, the multiple has announced.  

The take-home tests, which are available free of charge to asymptomatic people in England as part of the Pharmacy Collect Service, will now also be available in 273 of the multiple’s pharmacies in the two devolved nations. 

The tests are being provided from 1,296 of LloydsPharmacy’s 1,400 branches across the UK, including 191 stores in Scotland from last week and 81 in Wales as of yesterday. 

Anna Ruthven, head of services at McKesson UK, LloydsPharmacy’s parent company, said: ‘We’re really pleased to be continuing our work with the NHS to offer local communities in Scotland and Wales access to lateral flow tests. 

‘With new variants emerging, it’s essential we continue to do all that we can to contribute to the nationwide fight against Covid-19.  

‘Community pharmacies are highly valued among the public and we hope that by now offering this service to people in Scotland and Wales we can help play an important part in widening access and expanding capacity, providing both protection and reassurance to our customers and patients.’  

Research published by the University of Oxford and Public Health England (PHE) in January found lateral flow tests are ‘sufficiently sensitive’ to detect the ‘majority’ of cases that lead to onward transmission of Covid-19. 

The Oxford team’s modelling found that the ‘most sensitive’ lateral flow test of four kits tested would identify 91% of Covid cases, whereas the ‘least sensitive’ detected 84% of people with the virus.