A NATIONAL shortage of pharmacists has hit Peebles, a meeting has heard.

On Friday (July 22) the town's High Street branch of the chemist Boots was shut till 2pm.

And a notice on the door stated the closure was due to a pharmacist not being available.

Staff could be seen working inside and it was not just the prescription service which was closed but the whole shop.

For many months Boots has closed for an hour at lunchtime.

At Peebles and District Community Council’s July meeting, secretary Anne Snoddy said: “There are some concerns about Boots and they did not respond to my initial email.

“It was shut all day Saturday (July 9), with no prior notice, either on Facebook or on the door and it is closed at lunchtimes too.

“I wondered if that’s an ongoing problem or if it is short term?”

Tweeddale West councillor Drummond Begg, who is also a GP, added: “The key issue is a lack of community pharmacists nationally.”

Boots is owned by a US healthcare giant, Walgreen Boots Alliance, and on its UK careers website has at least 69 pharmacy vacancies across Scotland, including one in Peebles.

In Galashiels there are two vacancies at its branch in Gala Water Park, for a full time and relief pharmacist.

Nationally the firm has more than 800 vacancies for pharmacists and 2,860 vacancies for all types of employment.

A Boots spokesperson said: “Like other pharmacies, we are experiencing some challenges with pharmacist resource.

“Our teams are working hard to keep stores open, minimise disruption for customers and provide the best possible service.

“Sometimes, rather than close a pharmacy for a day, we will alter our opening times.”

Dr Begg added: “One thing that would help efficiency is to introduce an electronic prescription service.

“Both are Scottish Government issues.”

PCC chairman Les Turnbull said it is quite worrying that the pharmacy is not working well and asked Ms Snoddy to email the Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale MSP Christine Grahame.

In a comment to the Peeblesshire News, Ms Grahame said: “I am aware of the concerns about this and subsequently my office did reply to Ms Snoddy last week.

“On the substance of the matter, in terms of opening hours and availability, pharmacies have a contract with the NHS Board to provide services so if the local community wishes me to I’m happy to write to NHS Borders to raise this.

“Electronic prescription transfer (ETP) happens already in Scotland, although it’s not available in all settings as it depends on the GP practice and local pharmacies wishing to do so – this is similar to the situation in England.

“There will however be patients in the Borders using this sort of system now.

“Again, if there is a specific concern about this I’m happy to raise it if contacted by constituents on it.

“I would hope Boots will now engage with the local community to allay some of these concerns.”

Boots spokesperson said: “We apologise to customers who have been affected and thank them for bearing with us and being kind to our team members at this time.”

The meeting was also informed about an update on the town's Lloyds Pharmacy.

On June 17, the Peeblesshire News reported that an 83-year-old woman was forced to wait four hours at the pharmacy.

At a recent meeting of Peebles and District Community Council its secretary Anne Snoddy said: “Lloyds have confirmed that the problems were caused by implementation of a new computer system.

“Their regional manager was alerted to our concerns and is supporting the pharmacy team to ensure an optimal level of service can be achieved again.

“At the time of their writing things have improved, they are not perfect but are getting better.”