Well Pharmacy has acquired three new pharmacies taking the total number of pharmacies owned by the chain across the UK to 746.
The UK's largest independent and third largest pharmacy chain has bought Pharmacy Express in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, and two Frosts Pharmacy's in Banbury, North
Oxfordshire, and Marston, near Oxford. All three pharmacies will be rebranded. #
Well did not disclose the amount it paid for the new acquisitions.
Operations director of Well Pharmacy Louis Purchase said that the group was "excited" to expand. "We believe passionately in community pharmacy, and we want our
offering to be the best experience of this in the UK. We also hope our new colleagues can keep progressing and develop their clinical skills even further by being
part of Well Pharmacy."
Frosts Pharmacy teams have joined Well from their pharmacies based in Ferriston, Banbury, North Oxfordshire and Marston, near Oxford. They both serve local people
from the heart of their communities and offer a successful travel vaccination clinic in Marston.
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) Scotland has launched an online pharmacy best practice hub to showcase the best practices adopted by pharmacy teams in
Scotland.
The brand new pharmacy best practice hub, hosted on the RPS Scotland website, went live on Thursday (August 11).
RPS Scotland said: "Pharmacy teams across Scotland are undertaking fantastic work right now, in a variety of settings including community, hospital and general
practice pharmacy as well as specialist settings.
Many of these examples demonstrate the very best in pharmacy practice, which is supporting the profession to move further towards RPS Scotland's professional vision
for the future of pharmacy, Pharmacy 2030."
RPS wants to celebrate and share these examples with healthcare professionals, government, politicians, the public and potential pharmacy students to inspire people
into the profession. It also provides a fantastic opportunity for pharmacy teams to share their practice with each other across the country.
A winter NHS crisis is inevitable unless the government acts now to reverse the worrying decline in community pharmacies. Years of government underfunding could
see 3,000 pharmacies in England - around a third of the network - having no option but to shut their doors to patients in the next few years.
That figure is based on independent assessments from Ernst & Young and UCL/LSE healthcare professors: it is not scaremongering - it is the reality the country faces.
Fifty per cent of pharmacies are already in financial distress because government funding has been falling in real terms since 2019 and that figure is predicted to
rise to 75 per cent within the next two years.
The government needs to act now and invest in pharmacy or sleepwalk into a healthcare disaster as we have seen with access to dentistry care. Prescription volumes
have risen consistently year-on-year by roughly 2 per cent which means fewer pharmacies doing more work and under greater pressure than a decade ago. Ten years ago
around 11,200 pharmacies in England were dispensing roughly 79,000 prescriptions; nowadays around 11,500 are dispensing roughly 89,000 prescriptions.
The secretary of state recently asked pharmacy to do more to avoid a winter NHS crisis and at the same time said there will be no new money to pay for those
additional services. This at a time when the network is in decline with random unplanned pharmacy closures - 640 closures since 2016 - and pharmacy staff face huge
workload pressures as prescription demand is increasing year-on-year. The government's approach to pharmacy literally does not add up: the pharmacy contract is not
fit-for-purpose now let alone dealing with a NHS winter crisis.
Community Pharmacy England (CPE) is gearing up to conduct a vital Pharmacy Advice Audit, calling on pharmacy owners and their teams to help measure the
increasing reliance on pharmacies within communities.
With years of financial strains impacting the sector, despite the much-needed £645 million recovery plan funding, the sector finds itself on the edge.
The launch of Pharmacy First sparked a notable surge in people seeking advice from community pharmacies, both within and beyond the funded service, as revealed
by recent sector polling.
To accurately assess this trend and advocate for sustainable funding, CPE is initiating an audit to gather data crucial for showcasing the extent of unfunded
care provided by community pharmacies.
Scheduled to commence this week, the Pharmacy Advice Audit will entail pharmacy teams documenting informal healthcare advice dispensed over a single day.
Pharmacy Business will be hosting their annual awards event in the pharmacy calendar with a glittering ceremony to celebrate the very best of community pharmacy.
The 23rd edition of the Pharmacy Business Awards will be on Wednesday 4 October 2023 in central London.
The awards attract the biggest names in pharmacy, with heads of pharmacy organisations, CEOs of leading manufacturers and wholesalers, health officials and
government ministers in attendance.
We look forward to bringing together the shining lights of community pharmacy, who show the nation the unique services they continue to provide.
REASONS TO ATTEND
Understand what the ambitions of the NHS and PSNC are for the future of community pharmacy
Understand why its important to develop a wider range of health services
Learn how others are achieving this and what the benefits can be
Learn what the benefits of embracing technological innovations are
Hear what others are doing and what the benefits are to their business
Network with and learn from your peers in community pharmacy
WHO SHOULD ATTEND?
Pharmacy owners
Pharmacy managers
Other pharmacy stakeholders
Exciting news! Pharmacy Business Awards 2023 are just around the corner!
Addressing the recent announcement made by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to claw back £9 million per month from community pharmacy
contractors, the Chairman of Numark, Harry McQuillan has expressed deep concerns over the financial implications on the sector.
The claw back follows an error in the July calculations of Category M medicine prices, which led to increase in the reimbursements made to community pharmacies.
Beginning August, the DHSC is set to claw back the amount.
McQuillan criticised the decision, highlighting the severe strain it places on already financially vulnerable community pharmacies.
Calling it "a severe blow to an already financially strained sector", McQuillan emphasised that the additional burden has the potential to threaten the viability
of many pharmacies.
"Community pharmacies are the frontline of our healthcare system, by penalising these pharmacies for an error not of their making, the Department of Health is
jeopardising the foundation of local healthcare delivery," McQuillan criticised.
Addressing the recent announcement made by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to claw back £9 million per month from community pharmacy
contractors, the Chairman of Numark, Harry McQuillan has expressed deep concerns over the financial implications on the sector.
The claw back follows an error in the July calculations of Category M medicine prices, which led to increase in the reimbursements made to community pharmacies.
Beginning August, the DHSC is set to claw back the amount.
McQuillan criticised the decision, highlighting the severe strain it places on already financially vulnerable community pharmacies.
Calling it "a severe blow to an already financially strained sector", McQuillan emphasised that the additional burden has the potential to threaten the viability
of many pharmacies.
"Community pharmacies are the frontline of our healthcare system, by penalising these pharmacies for an error not of thei
England's chief pharmaceutical officer (CPhO) David Webb has promised his "wholehearted support" for the community pharmacy sector at the board meeting of the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) on 28 June in St Albans.
After hearing the CPhO at the meeting, NPA chair, Andrew Lane, later declared: "David is someone we can do business with."
Webb thus listed his priorities as head of profession: integration of independent prescribing as part of pharmacy practice by 2026; promotion of inclusive pharmacy
practice for all pharmacy professionals; assurance of post-registration practice; developing the role of pharmacy technicians; support for Integrated Care Systems
and Primary Care Network pharmacy teams (including community pharmacy); medicines optimisation; and strengthening of professional leadership for community pharmacy.
He also reported that NHS England had recently increased its team of regional pharmacy integration leads from seven to 14, creating seven new senior posts.
Webb told NPA board members: "I want sincerely to thank community pharmacy teams for everything they are doing and to say that you have my wholehearted support. I believe in the importance of community pharmacy and will listen and engage as I've already demonstrated.
National pharmacy bodies have called on the government and NHS leaders to take appropriate action to keep pharmacy teams safe from violence and abuse.
The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) - in collaboration with the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies (AIMp), the Company Chemists'
Association (CCA), the National Pharmacy Association (NPA), and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) - is supporting an important petition started by Mike Hewitson,
a community pharmacy contractor, who has been threatened with stabbing and robbed in his own pharmacy.
The PSNC and the other national pharmacy bodies strongly believe that no healthcare professional should have to deal with this, that and pharmacists and their teams
should be better protected.
It said: "Community pharmacies play an integral role in the delivery of primary care and most patients are highly appreciative of the hard work of local pharmacists
and pharmacy teams from dispensing medicines and administering vaccines to providing medical advice and health monitoring services.
Online pharmacy delivery partner Gophr has released new data showing a further drop in pharmacy numbers in England, resulting in a phenomenon they
call 'Pharmacy Deserts'.
Gophr highlighted that a significant portion of the population now lives in 'pharmacy deserts,' referring to the situation where an increasing number of urban
residents struggle to access a shrinking number of pharmacies.
For the second consecutive year, Gophr has analysed the data for its 'Prescription For Pressure' initiative.
The analysis showed that in 2023, pharmacists dispensed 1.18 billion prescriptions across England, marking an increase of 137 million compared to 2022.
The average number of prescriptions per pharmacy stands at 103,380, which equates to 283 a day.
As calculated by Gophr's data experts, pharmacy numbers decreased from 11,522 in 2022 to 11,414 in 2023, reflecting a decline of 108 compared to the previous
year's 'Prescription For Pressure'.
Gophr's data also showed that pharmacy deserts are most prominent in the South East (6,024 people per pharmacy), the East of England (5,327), the South West
(5,284), and the Midlands (4,975).
London, which ranked high last year, fell out of the top four, with 4,759 people per pharmacy.
Charac, an NHS-integrated one-stop platform for independent community pharmacies, and Positive Solutions, the fastest growing pharmacy IT provider in the UK,
have agreed on a collaboration to support community pharmacies through new integrated technology platform - MyHealthHub.
The tech platform aims to give pharmacies a powerful and compelling tool to both help retain and attract new patients. The app will also allow the over 7,200
independent high street pharmacies which are lacking a digital footprint to compete with larger online pharmacies by providing them with an online presence.
The long-term strategic partnership brings together Charac's innovative approach to patient relationship management and Positive Solutions trusted expertise in
digital solutions for pharmacy.
With Positive Solutions' Analyst PMR used daily by 16,000 pharmacy team members to process over 87 million scripts and 180 million items, the collaboration will
help transform patient engagement and continue driving service business to pharmacies across the UK using a new innovative, integrative technology platform,
MyHealthHub.
MyHealthHub will not only integrate with Analyst PMR, but also forms part of an entire new technology ecosystem from Positive Solutions, the Hx platform and will
be entirely interoperable.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, during today's (15th May ) Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs), reiterated his commitment to supporting community pharmacies amidst
growing concerns over pharmacy closures.
Addressing questions regarding the Pharmacy First initiative, Sunak assured the House of Commons of his dedication to bolstering resources for these vital healthcare
providers.
In response to a query raised by Member of Parliament, St Ives MP Derek Thomas, citing statistics from the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) about "committing to
directing funds towards Community Pharmacy to alleviate financial pressure and prevent closures, Sunak remarked that he "cares deeply about the future of community
pharmacies."
Sunak acknowledged the indispensable role played by community pharmacists in alleviating pressure on urgent care services, emphasising the importance of initiatives
like Pharmacy First in government's commitment to supporting community pharmacies.
"There are over 10 and a half Community pharmacies across the country working incredibly hard to serve their patients," Sunak said praising the community pharmacists
and highlighted the concerning trend of pharmacy closures, citing a significant increase compared to the previous year.
Stone Pharmacy in Barnsley, South Yorkshire has been sold to existing operator, Livesey Healthcare, which owns another pharmacy in East Lancashire for an
undisclosed price.
Stone Pharmacy is a well-established, 100-hour community pharmacy that is run under full management with a locum Pharmacist, and dispenses an average of 22,000
items per month. The business adjoins Garland House surgery in the South Yorkshire village of Darfield, which is circa six miles east of Barnsley and circa 14 miles
north of Sheffield.
The pharmacy has been owned by experienced operators, Khuram Akhtar and Mohammed Ali, trading as MEDS2U Ltd, for the last seven years, and was recently brought to
market to allow the pair to pursue new ventures both in and out of community pharmacy.
Khuram Akhtar, former owner of Stone Pharmacy, commented: "The business at Stone Pharmacy has been a fantastic enterprise for many years for us, with limited
competition and a position central to the local community we have always enjoyed the support of the nearby population and are pleased that it is now in the hands
of experienced operators who can build on that foundation with the expansion of new services.
NHS England has commissioned the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) to develop guidance that helps community and hospital pharmacy teams across Britain to
reduce the impact of pharmacy services, pharmaceutical care and medicines on the environment.
The RPS said the Greener Pharmacy Guidance will enable pharmacies to self-assess their impact against the standards, benchmark and improve through evidence-based
activities and actions.
"I'm delighted our strong commitment to helping pharmacy reduce its environmental impact can now be taken to the next level through developing guidance and
accreditation for pharmacy teams," RPS president Professor Claire Anderson said.
"Medicines account for 25 per cent of carbon emissions within the NHS and this initiative underscores our commitment to promoting sustainable healthcare and
supporting the NHS's goal of achieving 'net zero' emissions by 2040."
Peter Morgan, medicines assistant director at NHS England, commented: "Pharmacy staff are involved in the purchasing and dispensing of almost every medicine used
in the NHS and the new Greener Pharmacy Guidance and Self-accreditation scheme will provide support for pharmacy professionals by outlining clear actions to deliver
more environmentally sustainable pharmacy practices."
The RPS said the guidance and digital self-assessment toolkit will integrate with carbon calculator tools to help pharmacy teams to measure their carbon footprint,
action plan to reduce use of carbon and improve sustainability.
Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting outlined his plans for NHS reform on Friday (21 April), where he also mentioned a desire to see pharmacies take on more
workload and pharmacists' clinical skills to be better utilised.
In his speech, he also expressed concern at warnings from the pharmacy sector and pharmacy closures.
The Company Chemists' Association (CCA) appreciated Shadow Health Secretary's desire to enhance pharmacies' role in primary care reform but also stated that the
sector is in urgently needs a funding injection.
Dr. Nick Thayer, Head of Policy at the Company Chemists' Association (CCA) comment: "We are pleased to see the Shadow Health Secretary recognise the enhanced role
that pharmacies should play in primary care reform.
Mr Streeting wants to see care brought closer to people's homes and more front doors into the NHS. With 89.2% of the population located within a 20-minute walk of
a pharmacy, pharmacies do just that. They are essential to realising his vision of a 'neighbourhood health service'.
Pharmacies could free up over 42m GP appointments annually, including 10m vaccination appointments.
Urgent same-day appointments for minor conditions in pharmacies will immediately benefit patients by increasing GP access. The first step is for the Government to
immediately commission a fully-funded Pharmacy First service in England.
A group of 21 community pharmacies in the Midlands and Yorkshire will have a new name - Pickfords Pharmacy.
The group has been created by combining three independent pharmacy businesses which traded as Mr Pickford's, McGills Pharmacy and D&R Sharp.
All pharmacies in the new group will be rebranded over the coming months, with a series of launch events planned by local teams.
Speaking after the unveiling of the first branch to receive new signage in Hexthorpe Doncaster, Mimi Lau, Pickfords Pharmacy's chief operating officer, said:
"This is a turning point for the group, with all our pharmacies operating under one name with a consistent, contemporary brand.
"Initial reaction has been fantastic and very soon the name Pickfords Pharmacy will be widely recognised for the great service we deliver to customers and patients
every day."
Speaking of the consolidation, Nick Yarrow, the newly appointed group chief executive officer, commented: "Since the enlarged group came together last year, we have
been striving to ensure that the best elements of each business have been retained for the benefit of our customers and team members.
"This is part of our journey to be more than just a pharmacy - we want to be a trusted source of healthcare services at the heart of each one of the communities we
serve".
The Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies (AIMp) and senior official of NHS Property Services (NHSPS) had a meeting on August 18 to review the rent
policy for health centre pharmacies.
Earlier, the association had sent a letter to NHSPS that was signed by pharmacies from across the sector, including single independents, pharmacy groups and members
of the Company Chemists' Association.
The letter outlined concerns about rent reviews and the impact of it on the co-located health centre pharmacies.
Dr Leyla Hannbeck, CEO of AIMp, said: "We outlined that whilst in the past, the norm established by the industry, was to base rents for co-located pharmacies
primarily based on patient list size, (and taking account of a few other factors), the industry now needs to revise the basis on which rents are determined for
co-located pharmacies."
The association, on behalf of the pharmacy sector, met the CEO of NHSPS and two of their senior directors (director or property management and their finance director).
Two dozen parliamentarians from across the political spectrum have called on the prime minister to act as a wave of pharmacy closures in recent years has
threatened to spiral out of control.
A letter to the prime minister signed by 24 MPs and peers has warned that worse could be yet to come after "spiralling business costs" and "year after year of real
terms funding cuts" have led to hundreds of pharmacy closures.
New data from the PSNC shows that over 639 local pharmacies have been lost in England since 2016.
"This is the equivalent to just short of one pharmacy closure per constituency", the cross-party group warned.
The letter comes as MPs came together at a parliamentary summit to call for pharmacies to be embraced as a "game-changer" for tackling healthcare backlogs and taking
pressure off other areas of the NHS. A 'Future of Pharmacy' event was attended by 53 parliamentarians on July 5 in the Palace of Westminster.
At the event parliamentarians heard directly from frontline pharmacists and representatives of pharmacy bodies where a map of constituency-specific pharmacy numbers
was also unveiled, with details of the number of pharmacy closures in MPs' local area.
EMIS Pinnacle, the leading Pharmacy First IT supplier, has begun implementing the GP Connect Update Record feature to all community pharmacies in England that
use PharmOutcomes.
Starting June 28, this new feature was made available for use with the Hypertension case-finding service and the Pharmacy contraception service, as announced by
the Community Pharmacy England (CPE).
The GP Connect Update Record will enable community pharmacies to securely share "structured" information with GP practices regarding consultations conducted under
the Pharmacy First programme, which includes minor illness and clinical pathways, along with Hypertension Case Finding and Pharmacy Contraception services
Live testing is underway with EMIS Pinnacle for Pharmacy First minor illness and clinical pathways.
There are plans to expand the system in the future to include updates for urgent supply of medicines under the Pharmacy First service.
EMIS Pinnacle is the third CPCF IT system supplier to offer this functionality, following Cegedim's Pharmacy Services system and Positive Solutions' HXConsult
system.
Well Pharmacy has announced the acquisition of Lexon UK Holdings and Asurex Limited, a family-owned pharmaceutical wholesaler with five depots in Redditch,
Leeds, Durham, East Kilbride and Dublin and a network of community pharmacies across the Midlands, Northwest, and Northeast of England.
Lexon, is a family-owned business which has been in operation for over 25 years, running primarily as a pharmaceutical wholesaler for 3,000 retail pharmacy
customers across the UK and Ireland.
The business also operates 42 community pharmacies - currently trading as Knights Pharmacy - and is also a specialist developer and manufacturer of generic
pharmaceuticals and is a data and solutions provider to pharmacy.
The acquisition will be notified to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
Both parties have proactively engaged with the CMA in pre-notification discussions and look forward to continuing to do so productively during the CMA review period.
Haider Choudrey, CFO of Bestway Group which own Well Pharmacy, said: "Through this acquisition we seek to augment our growth momentum and bring in even greater
benefits to both community pharmacies and patients. Well Pharmacy had been searching for a target to expand its footprint and complement its growth trajectory and
we are confident that Lexon fits this criterion."
The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has partnered with training provider Skills 4 Pharmacy to provide Level 2 and Level 3 pharmacy apprenticeships to its
members in England.
Skills 4 Pharmacy is an experienced pharmacy apprenticeship training provider dedicated to initiating and developing the careers of pharmacy support staff and
technicians. They manage the recruitment of apprentices, as well as their enrolment and training.
The apprenticeship package offers a Level 2 Apprenticeship - Pharmacy support worker and Level 3 Apprenticeship - Pharmacy technician.
Amerjit Singh, Managing Director at Skills 4 Pharmacy said: "As a member for the last 23 years it is a great honour to be able to work alongside the NPA and promote
apprenticeships.
"As contractors we are facing challenging times, however I firmly believe that apprenticeship programmes which upskill and empower our workforce are essential for our
future survival. Apprenticeships are a great way to build a strong talent pipeline and bring new skills to pharmacies.