Flooding that affected towns in the south east of England over the past two
weeks severely affected two branches of Boots the Chemist, but independent pharmacies
seem to have escaped.
Boots branches at Uckfield and Lewes, both in East Sussex, were closed by flood-water
as the rivers Uck and Ouse burst their banks.
A Boots spokeswoman confirmed that company’s Uckfield branch had been closed
by the flooding, which had been a few feet deep. The health authority had been
informed that the pharmacy was unable to operate so that it could ask general
medical practitioners to tell patients that dispensing services were not available.
She said that this should not have caused too much of a problem for patients,
as other pharmacies in the town had not been affected.
Boots’s Lewes store was less badly affected, having been closed for a morning
by four to six inches of floodwater.
The signs are that the flooding had little impact on independent pharmacies.
A spokeswoman for the Pharmacy Mutual Insurance Company, which insures many
independent pharmacies, said that it had not been notified of any claims.