Pharmacies will no longer be able to report temporary closures or suspensions of services by emailing their integrated care boards (ICBs), NHS leaders have said.
NHS England said in its primary care bulletin that from 1 June 2026 the only route to notify ICBs of service suspensions or pharmacy closures will be via the Manage Your Service (MYS) platform.
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Once reported, pharmacy owners will not need to follow up with an email or further notification to their ICB, NHS England added.
The approved particulars relating to the National Health Service (Pharmaceutical and Local Pharmaceutical Services) Regulation will be updated on 1 June to reflect this on the NHS England website, it said.
The MYS portal has been available to notify ICBs of temporary suspensions or closures since September 2024. It can be updated with one or more temporary suspensions and remains editable for seven days after submission.
The submission can also be deleted if there is no subsequent suspension or closure.
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The Terms of Service – laid out in the NHS (Pharmaceutical and Local Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 2013 – require community pharmacy owners to have a business continuity plan for temporary suspensions or closures due to illness or other reasons beyond their control and to action the plan when necessary.
One of the requirements in the event of a temporary suspension or closure is that pharmacies notify their ICB.
They must also display information about the closure or suspension somewhere that is visible from the outside of the pharmacy.
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The House of Commons last year heard from Prime Minister Keir Starmer that Stephen Kinnock and pharmacy leaders were ‘working speedily to consider how to strengthen regulation’ of pharmacy businesses.
This came after reports of Jhoots pharmacies closing unexpectedly, not paying their employees, and forcing patients to travel long distances for essential medication.
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