Lloydspharmacy will use its virtual network of independents to bid for services from local commissioners, the managing director of its parent company has said.

The multiple's offering to independents to rebrand themselves as a Lloydspharmacy branch later this year would enable them to apply to get services commissioned locally, Celesio UK managing director Cormac Tobin told C+D in an exclusive interview.

Commissioners needed local healthcare providers to deliver "full coverage" for a service in an area, but no single pharmacy supplier could promise this, Mr Tobin said.

"We'll go to commissioners and say: ‘Listen, we've got 400 pharmacists in Birmingham that can take on the service the CCG requires," says Cormac Tobin, managing director of Lloydspharmacy's parent company	More on Lloydpharmacy Lloydspharmacy trains staff to be ‘Dementia Friends' Do more to promote benefits of sharing patient data, urges Lloyds chief Exclusive distribution deal brings AAH deliveries to all UK pharmacies
	"I can't do it, Boots can't do it [and] independents definitely can't apply. But, as a group, we can say to the independents: ‘Let's apply for these big NHS contracts'," he said.

Mr Tobin said "hundreds" of pharmacists had expressed an interest in joining the scheme since Celesio first announced its plans last year. The offer will initially be available to AAH customers, who will be able to join the franchise at three levels, becoming fully branded, co-branded or remaining separate from the Lloydspharmacy brand.

Grouping these franchise members together locally meant the company could act as an "incubator" for ideas about how to deliver health services in their area, he said.

"Because you're a franchise member, you're represented by us and we'll go [to commissioners] and say: ‘Listen, we've got 400 pharmacists in Birmingham that can take on the service the CCG requires," Mr Tobin explained.

Franchise members will become part of Celesio's European Pharmacy Network (EPN). Sixty Lloydspharmacy branches across the UK had already been converted to the EPN model, which involves a shop refit and enhanced training for pharmacy staff on skincare and pain management, Mr Tobin added.

In January, US healthcare giant McKesson confirmed it would buy Celesio, a week after both parties revealed the deal had fallen through, due to the reluctance of Celesio shareholders to sell up.

	Will Lloydspharmacy's strategy be successful?   We want to hear your views, but please express them in the spirit of a constructive, professional debate. For more information about what this means, please click here to see our community principles and information