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High street pharmacy Boots is to close its store in the Bede Precinct, Jarrow, in mid-March as part of a nationwide store closure programme.

It is one of 300 planned closures across the UK which will reduce the total number of stores from 2,200 to 1,900.

The North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board says it will work closely with the pharmacy to ensure that all measures have been taken to ensure patients will not be adversely affected by this closure.

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This will include:

Patients and care homes will be informed
The pharmacy will put arrangements in place for the transfer/disposal of excess stock on the day of closure
The pharmacy will ensure all owings are dispensed for patients and no prescriptions where full stock is not available are dispensed.
The pharmacy will ensure that all patients with prescriptions awaiting collection are contacted and if necessary deliver the medication to patient’s home
The pharmacy will return any prescriptions remaining in the pharmacy uncollected to the prescribing practice.

The Jarrow store will cease to provide pharmaceutical services on from 16 March 2024 and will be removed from the pharmaceutical list for the area of South Tyneside Health and Wellbeing Board with effect from that date.

Jarrow MP, Kate Osborne MP said: "I am hugely disappointed with the news that Boots Pharmacy is closing its branch in the Viking Centre in Jarrow.

"It provides a vital service to my constituents, collecting prescriptions and access to over the counter medications.

"Thirteen years of managed decline by consecutive conservative governments have damaged our highstreets. This closure will be a massive loss to our town centre.

"Whilst Boots have provided assurances staff based in Jarrow have been offered alternative roles - I encourage any employees impacted to contact my office with any issues they may be experiencing regarding this closure."

Jarrow MP reacts to the planned closure of town's Boots store