Boots has tripled the number of employees in training for its pharmacy advisor role since the chain announced the position in November last year.

The health and beauty giant is training almost 1,200 employees to fill the role, more than tripling the number from the 375 dispensing assistants that were poised to start training for the new role across branches of the multiple in January.

This increase is a key step in Boots’ plan to train all of its dispensers to transition to the pharmacy advisor position. Boots said that 63 trainees have already qualified for the role. 

It has also recruited 60 additional “healthcare colleague” apprentices and plans to recruit another 155 in September, in addition to the 350 apprentices the multiple committed to training last year. 

The apprentices, aged 16 to 18 years old, will have the opportunity to gain “full-time, on-the-job learning” and will be trained to become pharmacy advisors, Boots told C+D. By the end of their training, apprentices will be able to dispense medication within the pharmacy to NVQ level 2. 

The scheme – designed to free up time for pharmacists and pharmacy advisors to spend with patients – will enable candidates to offer “industry-leading healthcare advice” as well as dispense medication, Boots added. 

Boots UK chief pharmacist Marc Donovan (pictured) said Boots recognises that delivery of face-to-face patient care is vital in achieving its aim for pharmacy to play a greater role in offering services that make “a real difference” to patients’ health.  

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