Patients are required by law to wear face coverings

Customers and sellers in retail settings, including community pharmacies, are now required by law to wear a face coverings with some exemptions.

The latest guidance follows the legislation which came into force on July 24 asking people to compulsorily wear face coverings in public spaces, including pharmacies premises, to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.

The latest guidance has stated that it is not compulsory for all members of staff in a shop or pharmacy to wear face coverings. The guidance includes the following:

• A person who cannot put on, wear or remove a face covering because of any physical or mental illness, or due to a disability.
• If asked by a pharmacy staff member, a person in the pharmacy may remove their face-covering in order to assist in the provision of healthcare or healthcare advice. This means that a face covering can be removed to take medication.
• If a concerned authority, including police, considers that a person who should wear a face covering is not wearing one, he or she may direct that person not to enter the relevant place, or direct that person to wear a face covering, or direct that person to leave the premises.

The guidance has further noted that the liability for wearing a face-covering is with the individual who visits a pharmacy and not with the retailer or pharmacist.

Contractors can display the posters and social media statics to remind patients of the requirement.

A pharmacy may refuse to provide medicines and appliances on prescription if a person commits or threatens to commit a criminal offence.

Community pharmacists can also refuse entry to the people who are reluctant to wear a face covering.