Over the past few years there has been a vast change in the Community Pharmacy landscape. Following a 5 year period of flat funding and increasing running costs there has been an increasing number of pharmacies closing their doors permanently, with 1400 closing since 2017. At the same time there has been a shift in the ownership of pharmacies from large multiples to smaller groups and independent contractors. Boots and Rowlands have sold or closed pharmacies and Lloyds Pharmacy group has disappeared altogether.
The result of all of this is that there are many more pharmacies under independent ownership and while this can lead to more focused management of the pharmacy there has been no significant increase in funding to date, despite kind words from Government.
In order for these new owners to survive and thrive they need to make the most of the services that they are able to supply; and these can be lucrative if supplied professionally and consistently and with the right promotion. These services include: New Medicines Service (£25 each), Flu Vaccination (£9.58 each), Pharmacy 1st, Minor Illness and Urgent Supply (£15 each), Hypertension Service (£15 each), Smoking Cessation (£30 +£10 for subsequent consultations) and the Contraception Service (£18). These compare very favourably with the £1.27 fee for dispensing a prescription.
Despite this many contractors do not provide these services, they say they don’t have the time, that it is not worth it or there is not the demand. These contractors, however, continue to provide free services such as prescription delivery, provision of MDS trays or eMAR services which are dispensed either at cost or at a loss.
By making your dispensing service more efficient, making better use of your staff and of technology as well as cutting out loss making services, and by working more closely with fellow healthcare professionals, time can be freed for the pharmacist to provide the services mentioned above. This can vastly improve the profit margins of the pharmacy and indeed provide greater job satisfaction for the pharmacist. If you would like help on how to achieve this in your pharmacy then please contact Pharmacy Consulting Ltd