LloydsPharmacy will seek to continue operating reduced hours at some of its Sainsbury’s stores with 100-hour NHS contracts, it has emerged.

In a January 28 update to employees at affected branches seen by Pharmacy Network News, the multiple said that with the Government extending Covid emergency provisions for pharmacy contractors to the end of March, “we have made the decision that we will be applying to the NHS to continue with our current reduced hours”.

It said it was doing this “to alleviate the workforce pressures within your store and ensure we can offer pharmaceutical provision to our patients during the reduced trading hours within the week”.

The emergency provisions allow contractors to apply to the NHS to open for reduced hours on a temporary basis. They were initially introduced to help pharmacy teams focus on essential work during the first wave of the pandemic, and were due to expire on January 31 before being extended by the Government.

The provisions have been adopted by the multiple at its Sainsbury’s 100-hour sites since last November, with hours scaled back to between 9am and 9pm on Monday to Saturday and Sunday hours unchanged.

“We are constantly reviewing changes to our trading hours as a direct result of workforce pressures across the business,” said Lloyds.

The company declined to comment when approached by Pharmacy Network News for more information.