Independent pharmacy chain MedicX has set out plans to double in size over the course of this year.

Chief executive Steve Jeffers told C+D, following MedicX's acquisition of its tenth pharmacy in January, that he would like the company to own a total of 20 pharmacies by the end of 2012.

Mr Jeffers acknowledged that MedicX would never compete with the multiples on size, but revealed that he would like the company to become a national brand "known for providing excellent services in a clinical environment".

He said the company would stick with its strategy of focusing on health centre pharmacies. "We're looking for pharmacies where we could put in our service-led business model and we're very keen to look at any health centre pharmacies that may be coming on to the market," he told C+D.

"We've got a lot to offer in terms of patient care within the NHS" Steve Jeffers, chief executive, MedicX

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But Mr Jeffers stressed that profitability in health centre pharmacies was no longer "a given". "You still have to prove to patients that you're the best pharmacy for them to use," he explained. "They are good locations but my colleagues and I have 20 years' experience of developing health centre pharmacies and we would like to think we've refined it into a very good pharmacy offering." Mr Jeffers said he remained optimistic about the future of pharmacy despite current challenges in the market, including a squeeze on funding. He stressed that pharmacists could save the NHS "a fortune" by optimising prescribing habits and medicines use.

"We've got a lot to offer in terms of patient care within the NHS," he argued. "We are very highly trained and clinically qualified and we can enhance patients' health by managing medication for long-term conditions.

"Also, we give a bit more control over what GPs are prescribing – it still astonishes me that the net ingredient cost varies so widely between products," Mr Jeffers added.

MedicX opened its tenth branch in Thingwall, Merseyside on January 23.