Tesco cuts key service from flagship store in the Midlands

Tesco has informed its Laois customers that it is shutting its pharmacy in Portlaoise.

The supermarket giant says has told customers that it has made the difficult decision to close the Portlaoise branch as part of a nationwide closure of all seven Tesco pharmacies in Ireland.

"We understand that patients and customers will have questions, and our trained pharmacists and pharmacy teams will be on hand to support you through this change," said a letter to customers.

The communication says the in-store pharmacy in the Laois Shopping Centre store will close at the end of April 2023. All other Irish Tesco pharmacies will close at the same time.

Tesco has provided customers with a list of alternative pharmacies in Portlaoise. 

As for patient data, it says this will be available through your pharmacist until the end of April at your local pharmacy. After April, you can access your person information by submitting a data subject access request to data.protectionroi@tesco.com. They say this is being managed by Tesco Privacy Officer.

They say pharmacy staff will be able to assist with queries.

A letter from Tesco Ireland, which is being handed to patients of the pharmacy in its Portlaoise shop, concludes with a thank you to colleagues and customers for their support at this time.

Possible opening date given for former hotel in Offaly

The Leinster Express / Laois Live  asked Tesco Ireland for comment.

“We recently completed an extensive review of our pharmacy offering in Ireland, and for operational reasons have made the difficult decision to close all seven Tesco-operated pharmacies across the country at the end of April 2023. 

"We understand that patients and customers will have questions, and our trained pharmacists and pharmacy teams will be on hand to support them through this change. We thank them for their understanding and assure them that we are committed to providing a smooth transition over the coming weeks,” said a statement.

Voluntary redundancy packages will be offered to staff.

"Alternative roles within the business will be offered to colleagues. As an alternative to transitioning back to regular store operations, customer assistants working in the seven pharmacies, can apply for consideration for a voluntary severance package," said Tesco.