Bank Holidays
Bank and Public Holidays and Community Pharmacy Opening
For the purposes here we are treating Bank Holidays and Public Holidays equally.
Background
There is no requirement for any pharmacy to open on any Bank Holiday, nor is there any requirement to notify any commissioner that you will be closed, and you do not have to “make up” the hours at another point in the week.
Your NHS Directory of Services (DoS) will automatically show your pharmacy as closed on a bank holiday: If you do choose to open voluntarily it is recommended that you change your DoS entry so that, for example, 111 pharmacy first referrals (including urgent medicines supplies) can be sent to you. It is also helpful for members of the public.
If you do choose to open on a bank holiday you do not have to notify any commissioner, and, should you choose to or be unable to open as planned there are no penalties, provided the DoS is updated.
Commissioned bank holiday services
Currently the only bank holidays that have a commissioned, paid rota in Essex are Christmas Day and Easter Sunday. The rates offered for these bank holidays (£271 p/h in West Essex, £250 p/h Mid and South Essex) are imposed, rather than negotiated rates. Prior to the national requirement for pharmacies to open over Easter during the pandemic in 2020, the rate in Essex was £300 p/h. The national imposed rate was £250 p/h and according to the Bank of England inflation calculator the current rate should be £320 p/h. Pharmacies continue to sign up to provide Christmas Day and Easter Sunday opening hours at the imposed rate, which hinders our negotiating position for an uplifted rate.
Bank holidays falling on a Saturday/Sunday and Substitute Holidays.
This can apply to Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year’s Day holidays, as all other bank holidays are on fixed days of the week.
Christmas Day is always December 25th, and there is no requirement to open whichever day of the week it falls on, including Saturday and Sunday. It is usual practice for an additional holiday to be declared in the following week, there is also no requirement to open on the additional holiday.
Boxing Day and New Year’s day are a little more complicated.
If 26th December or 1st January falls on a Saturday or Sunday (as 26th December does in 2026) then a substitute bank holiday is declared, usually on the following Monday. However the actual date (26th December, 1st January) ceases to be a bank holiday: if your pharmacy normally opens on a Saturday or Sunday you may need to take action.
If you have supplementary hours on a Saturday or Sunday you can notify the ICB if you intend to temporarily change your supplementary hours on the relevant day(s). You must give at least 5 weeks’ notice, and amend your DoS accordingly.
If you have core hours on a Saturday or Sunday you can apply to temporarily change your core hours on the relevant day(s) however please be aware that any application is likely to be refused: Please include time for any appeal process in your application.
If you have a mixture of supplementary and core hours on a Saturday or Sunday you can notify a temporary change of the supplementary hours and either just open for the core hours, or apply separately to close the core hours as above.
You do not have to open on the substitute back holiday, and you cannot transfer your opening hours (ie you cannot remain closed on Saturday 26th December and open on the substitute holiday on Monday 28th December instead)
You can find details of pharmacies opening hours NHS Website
Community pharmacy contractors are reminded of the Terms of Service requirement to ensure they verify and, where necessary, update the information contained in their NHS and DoS Profile. The link is LINK TO NHS PROFILE MANAGER INTRO PAGE
