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While responding to the consultation on hub and spoke dispensing, trade unions for pharmacists have emphasised that the patient safety and care must be the priority in hub and spoke dispensing. The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has welcomed the opportunity provided by a change in legislation to enable community pharmacies to make use of hub and spoke dispensing but reaffirmed that patient care must be at the heart of future changes. With regards to patient safety, the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) considers that only Model 1 is appropriate, with manageable risks related to patient safety, and is a model that has the potential to allow the whole sector to benefit fairly. In its response to the consultation on Hub and Spoke dispensing, PSNC highlighted that Model 2 in the consultation, a hub direct to patient supply of dispensed medicines, raises patient safety issues and it cannot be supported. RPS President Professor Claire Anderson said: "In all models, patients need to continue to have access to a pharmacist at the time of supply of medicines so they have the opportunity to discuss, ask questions or raise concerns, and receive appropriate information with counselling and advice.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has finally published its response to the 2022 consultation on hub and spoke dispensing. Considering the consultation evidence and further discussions, the government has expressed its intention to progress the proposals for enabling hub and spoke models across different legal entities as soon as possible. This will be achieved by using the enabling powers outlined in Part 2 of the Medicines and Medical Devices Act 2021 (MMDA) to amend the Medicines Act 1968 and the HMRs. Furthermore, the DHSC has decided to proceed with the implementation of the two models of hub and spoke dispensing that it consulted on. The government response to the consultation reads: "Having considered the responses, the government intend to proceed to implement the necessary changes to medicines legislation to remove the current restrictions that prevent the hub and spoke dispensing models from operating across different legal entities found in section 10 of the Medicines Act 1968.

Our Totton branch has an incredibly high volume of original pack dispensing, roughly 45,000 items. As we became busier and busier in the dispensary we were finding that our pharmacists, dispensers and other technicians simply didn't have capacity to deliver the services that we needed them to. We all know there is a real emphasis right now on pharmacies doing more services and we knew we had to change the way we operate to survive. So we decided it was time to look into a sound automation solution for our medication dispensing process, one that would allow us to free up the time of the pharmacists and the rest of the team so they could better support patients. After a lot of research we invested in Centred Solutions FLOWRx Hub and InStore solutions which were installed late last year. It provides us with the whole package and has automated our entire dispensing process from picking to packing and labeling to checking. Our situation was quite unique as we bought the system initially for our existing high-volume pharmacy in Totton so the hub and the spoke are actually on the same site. People wouldn't usually look at a hub and spoke solution for that kind of set up but it has allowed us to significantly free up time in store for more services. What it has also done is allow us to look at other opportunities to grow and expand. The pharmacy landscape is changing and there are lots of opportunities coming up. We have found that having your technology and the right infrastructure in place to support your existing footprint before you expand is the ideal way to grow in a safe and controlled way. We never thought that five years ago we would buy another pharmacy, yet we have already bought one and are now in the process of buying two more. I'm not worried about the increase in volume this expansion will bring because I know our technology is going to be able to support it. The pharmacies we are buying are struggling but having our solution already in p

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has notified Community Pharmacy England (CPE) that they will no longer be able to implement the new hub and spoke models from 1 January 2025 as initially planned. The delay comes after the General Election, which put the progress of these amendments on hold. The DHSC is currently briefing new ministers across all policy areas, including hub and spoke dispensing between different pharmacy owners. As this process will take time, the implementation will not proceed as originally scheduled. CPE has stated that it does not yet have a clear timeline and will provide an update to the sector once more information becomes available. Malcolm Harrison, CEO of the Company Chemists' Association (CCA), expressed disappointment over the continued delays in fulfilling commitments made in the 2019 contractual framework agreement to support pharmacies.

Talk of hub and spoke models has been rumbling on for as long as I can remember. The topic has once again hit the headlines as the government announced a fresh consultation for its proposed changes, calling on all interested parties to submit their views by 8th June. The argument for hub and spoke is to allow independents to have the same level playing field as the larger groups who have been operating this model for some time. The government also sees significant efficiency gains in centralisation, arguing this will free pharmacists time away from dispensing to focus on clinical services. The latest consultation advocates two models being created. In the first model, the dispensed medication is sent back to the spoke. In the second model, the completed medication can be sent out directly to the patient. The latter is a new concept which could open up new opportunities in how services are delivered. Pharmacies could effectively outsource the entire dispensing and delivery to housebound patients and care homes allowing pharmacies to take on new business without having to worry about logistics and geography.