Skelmersdale-based online pharmacy Chemist4U has secured a £12 million investment from Pitalia Capital, an equity investment company led by Anil Pitalia.
Chemist4U is part of JCCO Healthcare, which also houses the weight management platform myBMI. Anil Pitalia is a health enthusiast, who heads SpaMedica, a company
providing cataract surgery to the NHS.
This investment will propel the group's expansion, with John Davies, Managing Partner of Pitalia Capital, joining the board, the company said. Moreover, it will
facilitate the extension of services by myBMI in the realm of weight management.
"Our goal is for Chemist4U to emerge as one of the largest NHS dispensing facilities in the country, while also providing vital support to our partners through our
rapidly expanding outsourced dispensing services division," said said James O'Loan, Chief Executive Officer of both Chemist4U and myBMI, who joined Chemist4U as a
superintendent pharmacist in 2012 before becoming CEO in 2018.
Meanwhile, Anil Pitalia, Head of Pitalia Capital based in Bolton, cited the compelling growth potential as the driving force behind his investment in Chemist4U's
next-day medicine delivery service.
Scottish community pharmacies will now hold two Naloxone kits, available in either nasal spray or injectable form, essential for reversing opioid overdoses.
The Emergency Access Naloxone Scheme, which is backed by £300,000 of Scottish Government funding, began on Monday (30 October).
Drugs and Alcohol Policy Minister Elena Whitham said, "Through our National Mission to reduce drug deaths and harms, we have invested more than £3 million in
widening access to Naloxone, including through our emergency services."
Witham said this new nationwide service is a welcome addition to existing services. "Police Scotland recently completed a force-wide rollout to 12,500 officers
who have used the kits more than 300 times. According to the most recent statistics, 70 per cent of those who are at risk of opioid overdose are being provided
with a lifesaving kit," she added.
"It provides a substantial increase in life-saving emergency access and I'm grateful to all those in community pharmacies who are supporting our £250 million
National Mission to reduce drug deaths," Whitham said.
New data published by NHS England on Thursday (4 January) showed that more than 31.4 million GP appointments (excluding vaccinations) were delivered
in November 2023.
This is four million more than the number recorded in the same month before the pandemic, and is considered the busiest November on record for GP teams.
Compared to the previous month (October 2023), 3.3 per cent more appointments were booked and attended on the same day in November.
Almost seven in ten patients attended their appointments within seven days of booking, an increase of 4.5 per cent from the previous month.
Kamila Hawthorne, the chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) Council, was honoured with the GG2 Woman of the Year Award at the annual
GG2 Leadership and Diversity Awards, held at the Park Plaza Hotel on Tuesday, 5 March.
Hawthorne has been a practitioner and a mentor to young GPs for almost 35 years, and has led pioneering research projects focusing on health inequalities,
diabetes and heart disease. She has been recognised twice as GP of the Year for her work with minority ethnic communities.
Professor Kiran Patel, Group Chief Medical Officer at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, was named the GG2 Man of the Year Award.
Apart from being a sought-after cardiologist and consultant, Patel also possesses a wealth of experience in managerial roles. He has done a lot of work in
addressing health inequalities, and notably, in 2020, he prescribed the very first COVID-19 vaccine.
