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We know remuneration influences behaviour. If I have a construction company and I pay a bricklayer a fee per brick to supply and fit, I suspect he will source them from the cheapest supplier and lay as many bricks as he possibly can. If one day, I reduce the fee such that it barely covers the cost of the brick, at a time when bricks are in short supply and labour costs have gone up, oh and I take some money off him for the profit he made on bricks he supplied the previous year, I suspect he will tell me to stick my job where the sun doesn't shine. It may be a crude analogy, but it is pretty much what's happened in community pharmacy over the last 20 years. The remuneration we get for dispensing does not cover the cost of providing the service. The reimbursement for the drugs does not cover the cost of the drugs. In fact, we make a loss on many items given all the clawbacks and supply shortages. Wages have gone up. And then each year the government claws back profit they say we've made, apparently! Yet, despite all this, we continue providing the service under this archaic system, allowing our paymaster to repeat the injustice because they know they can and, unlike the bricklayer, we will just suck it up and take it. So, what makes us carry on like this? Is it our conscience towards patient care? Is it that we don't know what else to do and the fear of the unknown? Or is it like the boiling frog story, where the temperature has increased gradually around us that we haven't noticed the government heat slowly killing community pharmacy. I suspect the answer is a mixture of all these factors. The pain is somewhat masked when we see fee paying services

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There is clear evidence that the majority of distance selling pharmacies are operating in breach of their NHS contracts, and a failure to properly regulate 'pseudo' distance selling pharmacies is leading to local pharmacy closures, the Company Chemists' Association has reported. According to the CCA's recent findings, 72 per cent of DSPs dispense over 50 per cent of their prescriptions to patients within a single postcode area within 10 miles of the pharmacy. "Operating within constrained geographical regions, pseudo-DSPs achieve reduced overheads and operational costs by focusing on localised marketing and medicine delivery. They compete against local brick-and-mortar pharmacies, causing them to lose vital trade," the CCA claimed, based on its recent survey - The Impact of Pseudo Distance Selling Pharmacies. "As per their terms of service, DSPs are obligated to provide prescription delivery nationwide, extending beyond local patients," said the CCA, adding that the financial savings resulting from the lack of patient access are balanced by the necessity to function on a national scale.

In the simplest form, online pharmacies are pharmacies that sell medicines over the internet and deliver the required medicines at the doorsteps of their customers. Due to the immense growth of the internet, buying medicines online has become much easier and convenient than in the traditional days. With the help of online pharmacy stores or e-pharmacy stores, consumers can easily order their required medicines without even taking a step from their home or living space. This is the reason why the number of online pharmacies is increasing, and consumers are also showing their interest in these pharmacies. The overall process of ordering from a trusted online pharmacy is very easy to understand. Additionally, the process of buying medicines online saves a lot of time and effort and saves the consumer as compared to buying medicines from brick-and-mortar drug stores. This is the reason why the range of online pharmacy stores is increasing day by day. Buying medicines online from the internet saves the user time and money. The results of the latest research have revealed that buying medicines online from the Internet can save 50 to 60 percent of the user's money. This is the reason why nowadays any consumer can buy the required medicines by choosing any reputable, authentic, and trusted online pharmacy like Pharma Health Online.

The recent announcement that Royal Mail will be partnering with distance selling pharmacy (DSP) giant pharmacy2U highlights how standards of regulatory enforcement are being ignored to accommodate the DSP model. The brunt of these double standards hinges around the levelling down of temperature enforcement standards by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) which demands mapping must be audited from the point of dispensing to the patient. The MHRA has a well recognised duty to ensure medicines reach patients in a safe condition. The current anomaly appears to turn a blind eye to this step in the supply chain at the point the wholesaler releases goods to the pharmacy hub. Equally the training on delivering medicines safely and effectively direct to patients should apply fully to all hubs including DSPs. Why is it that DSPs are being treated differently to bricks and mortar pharmacies? It's essentially the same patients receiving the same medicines from the same wholesalers. A further regulatory disparity exists around how parcels must be "tracked and signed for" to be reasonably certain medicines are delivered into the hand of the intended recipient, as per existing regulations. Clearly an untracked, unsigned package cannot be guaranteed to finish in the hands of the intended recipient. There is a very real possibility that such omission could lead to community pharmacy closures which will, in turn, lead to unemployment and a reduction in the care services. At a time when integrated care systems have just gone live, the removal of vital support services leading to further inequalities is the wrong message for both providers and patients alike.

Online pharmacies have to operate from bricks & mortar premises that are registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council, but recent cases show that, in reality, the practices of online pharmacies are often very different to other pharmacies, and the regulation of online pharmacies is also different - and evolving as issues arise. For a start, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) is only one of the regulators taking an interest in online pharmacy services. Other regulators include the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) which enforces the advertising and promotion of medicines, and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) which regulates prescribing services. The different regulation of online pharmacies is attributable to the higher risk to patients and the public from medicines bought online. These risks often arise from a combination of patients who do not tell the truth in order to obtain medicines and the nature of a transaction in which a pharmacist does not see patients face-to-face. "The GPhC has strong enforcement powers that it uses when it considers its premises standards have not complied with." However, there are also things that go wrong because pharmacists have simply failed to act professionally or take sufficient care, as well as cases where things have gone wrong through misfortune.

Superdrug, one of the leading health and beauty retailers, is all set to invest in 25 new stores this year, expanding its bricks-and-mortar retail footprint. It confirmed with Pharmacy Business that amongst its 25 new stores there "will be a mix of pharmacy and retail stores". The venture is expected to create over 570 jobs nationwide, creating a seamless customer experience and providing vital support for high streets and local communities. The investment, part of the brand's O+O (Online + Offline) platform strategy to deliver its omnichannel ambitions, is driven by continued strong performance figures. In Q4 2022 Superdrug reported increased volume and value sales and footfall across both sides of the beauty and health business. Whilst in 2021 revenue rose 5.1% to £1,168million with a profit before tax increase of 141.3%. The investment strategy has already seen Superdrug open new stores in Washington Gallery and Falkirk Retail Parks in February 2023 and in Braehead, the largest Superdrug in Scotland, just last month.