Walgreens Boots Alliance, the American owner of Boots UK, could risk losing billions after a private equity firm interested in buying its UK high street
pharmacy chain valued the retailer at a steep discount, The Telegraph reported on Monday (April 11).
"Buyout funds CVC and Bain indicated that they were willing to pay just £4bn for the business," the newspaper said, adding that "the consortium bowed out of the
running" in March.
The US retail giant Walgreens, which acquired Boots in 2014 for £9bn, has put a £7bn price tag on the UK pharmacy retail chain after selling its wholesale arm,
Alliance Healthcare, last year.
Citing city sources, the newspaper said the low valuation of the pharmacy multiple was "significant" because CVC's UK operations were led by Dominic Murphy, a
Walgreens board member involved with Boots for 15 years.
"He (Murphy) knows where the bodies are buried," the newspaper quoted one City source as stating. A spokesperson for Boots confirmed that CVC and Bain never
lodged a formal offer for the company.
Britain's health regulator is poised to announce that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) will be made available over the counter for the first time, the Daily Telegraph has revealed.
The newspaper first reported on Tuesday (February 1) that watchdogs were set to propose a reclassification of the medication so women are able to access it in a pharmacy without a prescription.
Every year, some 1.5 million women experience difficult menopausal symptoms, such as hot flushes, night sweats, sleep disturbance and a variety of emotional problems.
But only a tenth of them are prescribed HRT, following a consultation with a GP or specialist.
According to the newspaper, the latest proposal aims to improve convenience so that women are able to access HRT more easily, without needing a GP appointment.
Health Study Weekly - an online newspaper that collects together the week's news relating to health education.
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Health Study Weekly - an online newspaper that collects together the week's news relating to health education.
Read and subscribe free online at: http://paper.li/f-1327779598
- an online newspaper that collects together the week's news relating to health education.
Read and subscribe free online at: http://paper.li/f-1327779598
An online newspaper that collects together the week's news relating to health education.
Read and subscribe free of charge at: http://paper.li/f-1327779598
Carolyn Harris, Labour MP for Swansea East and co-chair of the Menopause Taskforce, has raised concerns over overcharging of HRT medicines by some online pharmacies, The Telegraph reports.
Carolyn, according to the newspaper, has claimed that some HRT products are being sold online for up to "three times as much as they're worth".
She has also accused the companies of "profiteering" from HRT shortage.
Carolyn has vowed to raise this issue in parliament and will also ensure that health secretary Sajid Javid is aware. She also intends to write to Javid to make sure he is up to date with the alleged "profiteering" taking place.
"Get your act together, this is just exploitation. Anybody who thought it was a good idea to hike the price up because there was a shortage… it's awful, it's just complete profiteering, and making a profit off the back of somebody's desperation is never a good look," she told The Telegraph.
The Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) provide an opportunity to break the silo mentality in the health and care sector, National Pharmacy Association (NPA) chair
Andrew Lane told MPs.
While giving evidence to the Health and Social Care Select Committee on 6 December about the effectiveness of ICSs, Lane also poured cold water on newspaper reports
that community pharmacists will be drafted in to break the NHS strike, as he reiterated the call for a "properly costed and funded environment."
"We've been in different silos historically and ICSs are an opportunity to pull all systems together for the benefit of patients," he told committee members.
Lane pointed to dementia-trained pharmacy delivery drivers and the Discharge Medicines Service as instances where the influence of community pharmacy already
stretches beyond primary care into hospitals and social care.
"We've seen pharmacists prescribe and get UTIs off doctors' desks, so we are starting to release capacity [in the system] and we're on that clinical journey.
We welcome that, but it has to be with the right level of funding," he added.
Lack of appropriate funding is making survival a massive challenge for community pharmacy, a sector relied upon as a vital support system by both primary and
secondary care in England.
The Telegraph newspaper ran a story on Monday (August 22) which highlighted the dire straits community pharmacy finds itself in. Seasoned pharmacist Ian Strachan
told the paper: "Our four pharmacies were the only point of call that was open (during Covid). We were there every single day, even when the virus was prevalent and
people were dying."
Describing the current situation, he said: "What is happening is we're facing a system that's just not working at all in our favour." Strachan says the issue is that
pharmacists are "just not getting the help we need to be able to do this job properly".
The sector is hugely dependent on funding from the NHS. The government had agreed in 2019 to set £2.6bn as annual funding for the sector. However, according to a
report from EY that amount was already down £200m on the 2016 levels of government funding.
"We've been starved of appropriate funding since 2016," Dr Leyla Hannbeck, chief executive of the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies told The Telegraph.
"It looks grim for businesses. The fees pharmacists get are going nowhere, but now, there's higher utility bills, higher staff fees and higher drug costs."
Dr Alla Gopala Krishna Gokhale, who successfully performed first heart transplant in Andhra Pradesh, India has also started his cardiac services to the Guntur Governament Hospital(GCH).
Dr Alla Gopala Krishna Gokhale, who successfully performed first heart transplant in Andhra Pradesh, India has also started his cardiac services to the Guntur Governament Hospital(GCH).
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Organ donation saves lives.Find news about Dr AGK Gokhale health workshops and activities that are covered by telugu news channels and published in telugu news papers.