Pharmacies in Pembrokeshire have been seeing temporary closures over the last few months due to a lack of pharmacists.

The Tesco supermarket pharmacy in Haverfordwest will be closed from Friday, June 10, and across the weekend, reopening to the public on Monday, June 13.

The situation is similar in pharmacies across the UK, especially in rural areas.

A spokesperson from an independent pharmacy in Pembrokeshire said: “The problem is a nationwide one, with the reason being a mixture of recruitment, Brexit and Covid-19.

“Young pharmacists who are studying and gaining experience still want a social life, and so they wish to stay around universities and cities.

“Because of this reason alone, a lot of the pharmacists in south and west Wales are in Swansea and Cardiff.

“Urban areas also offer younger pharmacists, as well as older ones, a much greater number of pharmacies to be able to work at.

“Specifically with Pembrokeshire, as a very rural area, pharmacists coming down here do not have as much choice for workplaces.

“Towns in west Wales only have a handful of pharmacies each.

MORE NEWS

“After Brexit and the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, many pharmacists from eastern Europe went back to their native countries.

“Quite a few of the pharmacies in Pembrokeshire are not independent, too. They are part of a chain, including supermarket pharmacies.

“Supermarkets have long hours, so they need at least two pharmacists to oversee the counter, hours that one pharmacist simply cannot do alone.

“Adding onto that, many people obviously go to supermarket pharmacists and so when they are closed for a few days due to a lack of pharmacists, people go to independent ones.

“This puts a great amount of pressure on independent pharmacists.

“Several pharmacists in Pembrokeshire are people who have come here as their family lives here.”