Pharmacy Closures
There may be occasions when a contractor is unable to open its premises for a reason that is beyond its control.
Where there is a temporary closure outside of the contractor’s control, they are required by the 2013 Regulations to notify their Integrated Care Board (ICB) when there is a temporary suspension of pharmaceutical services.
From 1 June 2026, the NHS Manage Your Service (MYS) portal is the only approved route for notifying your ICB of a temporary suspension or closure. Email notifications to the ICB are no longer required for temporary suspensions.
The MYS temporary suspension notification service has been available since September 2024. Pharmacy owners can:
- Report one or more temporary suspensions.
- Edit a submission for up to 7 days after it has been submitted.
- Delete a submission if the suspension or closure does not subsequently take place.
Pharmacy owners must continue to maintain and implement a Business Continuity Plan to minimise disruption to patient services and resume pharmaceutical services as soon as reasonably practicable.
Clients receiving pharmacy services for supervised consumption or daily controlled drug collection can be particularly vulnerable when a pharmacy is unable to open at short notice. Pharmacies providing these services should ensure appropriate contingency arrangements are in place and notify relevant local providers where appropriate.
Please notify the following services if your pharmacy is temporarily closed:
- Supervised consumption and needle exchange: herts@cgl.org.uk
- Smoking cessation
- East & North Hertfordshire: Sharon O’Connor (01438 844733) sharon.oconnor@hertfordshire.gov.uk
- West Hertfordshire (Herts Valleys): Lauren Arthur (01438 845924) lauren.arthur@hertfordshire.gov.uk
- Sexual health services: Eleanor.Gage1@hertfordshire.gov.uk
- All other Public Health services: HealthImprovementService@hertfordshire.gov.uk
For full guidance and resources relating to pharmacy temporary suspensions and closures, please visit the CPE website.
A pharmacy owner can apply to the ICB for permission to temporarily suspend the provision of pharmaceutical services (closure of the pharmacy), for example, to close for two or three days during a planned refit. If the ICB is satisfied that the circumstances are appropriate, and at least three months notice has been given, they may agree to the suspension of services (closure of the pharmacy). NHS England has published a template application form (see Pharmacy Manual Chapter 36, Annex 19 – Planned temporary suspension of services) and a list of ICB email addresses. For full details please refer to the Planned Temporary Suspensions/Closures section of the CPE website
In the event of an unplanned temporary suspension (closure), you must: For full guidance, including resources to help prepare for unplanned temporary suspensions, please refer to the Unplanned Temporary Suspensions/Closures section of the CPE website.
