Pharmacists in Yorkshire fought some of the worst flooding for 10 years to keep services open for patients last week.

Exceptional levels of rainfall rendered some roads in north Yorkshire impassable, creating travel problems for pharmacists in the area.

While one pharmacy had to close temporarily and share resources with another chemist, locums faced journeys of "three or four hours" to their workplaces.

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	Pharmacist manager Jenni Greenback was forced to close Mills Chemist, one of only two pharmacies in the town of Bedale, for half a day as the last serviceable road out of the town was in danger of closing.

She told C+D that, on one day, the pharmacy's delivery driver could not reach certain patients and some customers were coming into the pharmacy for emergency medicine supplies.

But Ms Greenback ensured that patients in the area had access to services throughout the week. "The other pharmacy didn't have a pharmacist for two days, so we were sharing resources and I was popping over to hand out methadone," she said.

Locum recruitment agency PL-UK, also based in Bedale, managing director Shaun Hockey praised the "great professionalism" of his locums for getting to work in the floods. He said some had endured journeys that would normally take half an hour stretched to "three or four hours".

"It has been a bit of a nightmare for people," he said. "Roads were impassable and some didn't open until Friday. But [the locums] knew the pharmacy couldn't open if they didn't get there."

It was important for pharmacists to have contingency plans in case their pharmacy was closed by flooding, warned NHS North Yorkshire and York PCT assistant commissioning and contract manager Jeanette Dove.

"I think there are things that need to be looked at in future... as to the best ways of communicating to the public," she told C+D. "Usually if a pharmacy closes for any reason, then you've got a sign on the door directing patients. But obviously if there's flooding, you're not going to have that there. So it's looking at [what] will have to take place."

The NPA agreed that pharmacies in areas at risk of flooding should have business continuity arrangements and signpost patients to alternative services if affected.

"If a pharmacy is particularly damaged, staff should discuss with the local primary care organisation and the General Pharmaceutical Council whether alternative premises can be used," said NPA head of pharmacy Leyla Hannbeck. "Also, where patients will not be able to collect repeat medicines from the pharmacy, prescribers should be notified and alternative arrangements made as necessary."