How we check each pharmacy
Every pharmacy listed on the site — all 10,656 — has been checked by our researcher, one by one, against its NHS website profile, its own website and other public listings. Each pharmacy page shows a Verified listing mark to say so. We did not visit or phone pharmacies.
For each pharmacy we recorded opening hours for every day of the week (including lunch breaks), the services it lists, its facilities and accessibility features, and its phone number and website.
What we publish
- Opening hours are shown when they come from the pharmacy’s NHS website profile or its own website and do not conflict with other sources. Hours that conflict are not published until they are resolved.
- Services and facilities are listed only when a source names them. We never assume a service from a category.
- Phone numbers come from NHS Business Services Authority data first.
- Website links point to the final address of the pharmacy’s own site. Links that were dead, parked or belonged to a different business were removed. Where the only site is the website of the group that owns the pharmacy, it is labelled “Group website”.
- We do not publish ratings, reviews or email addresses taken from other websites.
Which pages appear in search engines
A pharmacy page is open to search engines when it has published opening hours, a phone number and at least three named services or facilities. Pages for online-only, hospital and out-of-hours services, and pharmacies without published hours or enough named services, stay on the site but are not offered to search engines.
Who checks what
- Pharmacy listings (hours, services, facilities, phone numbers) are checked by our researcher, James Whitfield, against each pharmacy’s NHS website profile and its own website. He is not a pharmacist.
- Guides and service descriptions are reviewed for factual accuracy by Regina Agada, a GPhC-registered pharmacist (GPhC 2231463). She does not check individual pharmacy listings.
- Research, such as our pharmacy closures report, shows its method and source files on the page so the figures can be reproduced.
What we can’t verify
- Whether a pharmacist is on duty, or a service is available, on the day you visit. We don’t visit or phone pharmacies.
- Medicine stock. Ask the pharmacy before you travel for a specific item.
- Temporary changes between our checks, such as reduced hours, staff shortages or bank holiday opening.
- Eligibility rules for a service, such as age limits or appointments. The NHS website and the pharmacy can tell you.
- Closures or new pharmacies between NHS Business Services Authority data releases.
- GPhC registration or inspection results. We don’t use General Pharmaceutical Council data.
Corrections
If something is wrong, use the “Report a correction” link on the pharmacy’s page or email info@pharmacycompare.uk. We check each correction against the pharmacy’s NHS website profile or its own website before changing the page.