New Courier Bags

Published: 2nd June 2026

Community pharmacy teams should be aware of upcoming courier bag deliveries. This update sets out key dates, what to do if your bags don’t arrive in time, and a reminder of the current collection process to help avoid any issues with submissions.

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Key Points

• Your next courier collection date is Thursday, 18th June 2026.

• Look out for your next allocation of courier bags coming to you by Friday, 12th June 2026.

• See below for guidance on what to do if your new bags don’t arrive in time for the 18th.

• If you don’t receive your bags, or the mailing bag has been damaged and anything is missing on arrival, please contact us.

• Please note- Changes to the process for your collections, please read the details below carefully.

Your next allocation of courier bags is being sent out to pharmacies on Tuesday, 9th June so these should start arriving to you by Friday, 12th June.

If you are completely out of bags, and your allocation doesn’t arrive in time for you to prepare your submission, you can borrow from another pharmacy if they have one to spare, so long as it is within the same Health Board. If this is not a viable option, please contact us at the details below.

The mailing bags will also contain your dates for the next six months’ worth of courier collections, along with your Courier Receipt sheet and some helpful guides. Please check you have everything, and that you have the correct Health Board Cypher code on your bags, and if anything is missing, please contact us on either 0131 466 7766 or at pharmacy.services@cps.scot. We have also attached the upcoming dates here.

The new process has been in place for a number of collections, but as a reminder your prescriptions will now be collected by a Royal Mail post worker. When they arrive to collect, they should have an address label to attach to your bag with a tracking number on it. If they do not have this, please do not hand over your bag, and contact us on the above contact details.

You should still:

• Ask for ID before handing over.

• If you use two bags, the driver should have two labels with them. If there is only one label, then only hand one bag over and contact us for a second collection.

• Take note of your GP34 figures.

However, we no longer require you to keep a copy of your tracking number, as we will already have a record of this. You may still use the receipt sheet to record when the prescriptions are collected if your pharmacy processes ask for this.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

• When is the next prescription collection date?

  Thursday, 18th June 2026.

• What should I do if my courier bags do not arrive before the next collection?

  You can borrow a bag from another pharmacy within the same Health Board, or contact CPS if that is not possible.

• What has changed in the prescription collection process?

  You can borrow a bag from another pharmacy within the same Health Board, or contact CPS if that is not possible.

• What should I do if items are missing or the bag is damaged on arrival?

  You should contact CPS on 0131 466 7766 or email pharmacy.services@cps.scot.

• Where can I find information about future collection dates?

  You cna find information on future collection dates by downloading our Prescription Collection Courier Dates Poster 2026-2027.