In September, Boots announced that it was opening its first regional dispensing hub in Basingstoke, Hampshire, to deliver prescriptions to “150 stores in the south of England”.
Following this, it revealed last week (January 14) that the hub will now roll out support across “a further 150 stores” in the area as a result of the “successful pilot”.
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The facility will make the repeat prescription ordering process “faster and more seamless” for customers by “using automation to dispense centrally rather than in stores”, Boots said.
Medicines will be delivered from the hub to stores “within 24 hours of a prescription being issued, ready for customers to collect or for an onward journey to customers’ homes”, it explained.
This expansion is a “significant milestone” in Boots’ “pharmacy transformation journey”, it added, saying the programme aims to “grow prescription items” by “improving the customer experience” of accessing healthcare on the high street.
“Closer collaboration” with GPs
By reducing the time spent on manual dispensing, in-store pharmacy teams can “dedicate more time to customers”, the health and beauty giant said.
And it added that this “expanded capacity” will allow pharmacy professionals to “deliver a wider variety of healthcare services in-store” and “foster closer collaboration with local GPs”.
It will also allow them to continue strengthening their “clinical skills and expertise” and provide “even greater support to the communities they serve”, Boots said.
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It comes after Boots revealed in September that the “20,000-square-foot” dispensing hub would “gradually onboard” stores between then and April 2026.
Boots pharmacy director Anne Higgins said at the time that this transformation “is centred on empowering [Boots’] talented pharmacy teams to spend more time directly with their customers”.
“Warmly welcomed by our pharmacists, the regional dispensing hub allows them to further expand the healthcare services they can offer…and provide even more opportunities to develop their clinician skills and advance their careers with us,” she added.
