Pharmacy Daily | GPs ‘critical to our future’

PHARMACIES in the UK "must find new income opportunities or accept steady decline", warned a well regarded consultant, and the former head of pharmacy for Boots UK, Chemist Druggist (C D) has reported.

Director of Innovate Pharma Services consultancy Sanjay Patel told delegates at the 2023 Sigma conference last week, that GP practices provide a "large opportunity" for community pharmacists to the tune of 60k [A$109.8k] per year.

Patel acknowledged that some pharmacies experience "conflicts" with their local practices.

"I haven't done my research but my gut feeling is that most community pharmacies have challenges building strong relationships with surgeries."

But he added that pharmacies "can't achieve the services [they] need to do without partnership" with their practice.

"You might be thinking, it's not possible to get hold of my doctor, they're not going to listen to me, they're not going to make time for me, they just think we put labels on pill packets and that's it," he said.

But he told delegates that local GP practices are "critical for our future.

"Big numbers" are possible for pharmacies working in partnership with their surgery, with the surgery referring patients across for services, he said.

A slide presented by Patel showed that a 7k-item pharmacy could earn 755 (A$1,382) per month by working alone on services including the community pharmacist consultation service, blood pressure checks, travel vaccinations and contraception.

However, when working in partnership with their GP surgery and receiving referrals from it, this could rise to 5,120 (A$9,374) per month equivalent to over 60k a year, according to the conference slide, reported C D.