As you may be aware, we have recently been experiencing issues with our 01202 822364 number that mean this has been out of service at our Station Road branch and we have been using the alternative number 01202 122000 in recent weeks.

Unfortunately, the phone suppliers seem to have 'lost' the original number during the transition of the branch ownership from Lloyds Pharmacy to Verwood Pharmacy. Attempts to transfer the number to our supplier have been blocked by the previous supplier, but when we contact the previous supplier they can't find a record of the number and are unable to resolve this. For a while, the operation of the number continued uninterrupted, but this was then cut off and hence the need for us to introduce an alternative. Lloyds Pharmacy are increasingly busy with their other divestments and have been unable to identify a solution or hasten this from their end.

Yesterday, Tuesday 8th August, attempts to resolve this situation ultimately resulted in the Station Road broadband account being inadvertently ceased due to an error on the provider's part. This has had an impact on patients, as we have had to implement (with no expectation or notice) a slower 4G connection that has made the key Patient Medication Record system and payment system slower and less stable. We are pressing the provider to restore the service as soon as possible, but this is expected to take a few days and we apologise for any further inconvenience in the meantime.

Due to the above, and the lack of progress made during the last few weeks on this issue, we have taken the decision to abandon our attempts to secure the transfer of the old number and will continue to use 01202 122000 at the Station Road branch going forwards. As this number has been in use for around a month now, we hope the majority of patients will already be familiar with it. We do apologise for any inconvenience caused by this, but it has been completely out of our control and equally frustrating to us in trying to provide continuity of service.

We ask you to please note this change and update any records in phone books etc. Our Bank Court branch continues to use our primary 01202 828499 number.