Boots plans to have independent prescribers (IPs) working in all of its pharmacies “in the coming years”, its director of pharmacy growth yesterday (October 12) revealed.
Speaking at the Pharmacy Show in Birmingham, Shezad Alimahomed told delegates that Boots’ “ambition is to have IPs at all of [its] stores”.
Read more: Trainees ‘surprised’ to graduate without IP qualification
“We know that having IPs in all of our stores will be a game-changer, both for the NHS and for patients,” he said.
Increasing the “number of conditions” that community pharmacy can help with “will take more pressure off general practice”, he added.
Read more: DH ‘committed’ to pharmacy prescribing services
Alimahomed said that independent prescribing is a “key area” that Boots sees “huge potential” in and that the pharmacy chain has “invested significantly” in training its pharmacists to become IPs.
He added that Boots currently has “180 stores” offering “independent prescribing services” and that it plans to “grow these in the coming years”.
He also said that Boots wants IPs working for the company “to be actively prescribing in August 2026” - with all newly qualified pharmacists becoming IPs upon registration from the following month - and to be “offering commissioned services where available, alongside private services”.
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It follows Community Pharmacy England (CPE) NHS services director Alastair Buxton revealing in May what new services may be commissioned as pharmacy trainees graduate with IP qualifications.
Speaking at the annual Sigma conference, he told delegates that pharmacies could soon be commissioned to run national weight management or extra Pharmacy First condition services.
Buxton said at the time that some of the “obvious low hanging fruit” for commissioners would be trading out patient group directives (PGDs) for “deeper prescribing steps”.
