Pharmacy contractors are continuing to battle against threats from local GPs setting up 100-hour pharmacies on surgery premises, C+D has found.

A consultancy firm told C+D it was receiving "regular enquiries" about the possibility of opening pharmacies in GP surgeries, and in the latest case, a medical centre in Dorset has secured planning permission to build a pharmacy next to the surgery.

But local pharmacies, including independent Ferndown Pharmacy, are concerned their businesses will suffer as a result.

Becky Elmes, who works at Ferndown Pharmacy (co-owned by her husband), said Ferndown Medical Centre had asked pharmacies to tender for the contract of a new 100-hour pharmacy. But she said this could involve paying a "premium rent" as well as a share of sales.

"Not just a share of profits but a share of sales, so you are giving a part of your business away," said Ms Elmes, who has obtained more than 300 signatures in a petition against the proposed pharmacy.

A spokesperson for Ferndown Medical Centre confirmed it was proposing to build a separate single-storey building to house the pharmacy on land next to the surgery, and said the application for a new NHS pharmacy contract would be "via the normal procedures".

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	Pharmacy openings by doctors could be the face of things to come, warned Conor Daly, managing partner at legal consultancy firm Rushport Advisory. Mr Daly said he was receiving enquiries on a regular basis from both pharmacies and GPs on the possibility of opening pharmacies in surgeries.

He told C+D that there was a mistaken perception about doctors' motivations for wanting an in-house pharmacy.

"People feel there's one type of GP, and that they want to make as much money as possible, but that's definitely not been my experience," he said.

"I think what people have to remember about doctors is that they do come with many motivations. I find the main driver is that they see it as a benefit for their patients."

"There are of course commercially aware GPs who look at it as being an additional source of income in rent, but there are a lot of GPs who feel they shouldn't do deals with pharmacy because they feel they may end up being conflicted. It's surprising how many don't want to be involved because they are worried about how it looks."

Mr Daly said he had found the most interested GPs were ones that did not have pharmacies close by. "When you think about patients, they expect to have a pharmacy close to the surgery," he explained.

And for pharmacists, relocating to a surgery could bring a greater sense of business security, he said.

"It makes good business sense to be at the source of prescriptions - pharmacists inside surgeries feel they have the most protected businesses, and the least to fear from competition generally, especially 100-hour pharmacies," explained Mr Daly.

"This means they can feel more confident in investing in their businesses because they feel they are not under threat."

Earlier this year, the Independent Pharmacy Federation (IPF) warned that some GPs were threatening to exploit the 100-hour exemption rule to open pharmacies unless they are given financial incentives from pharmacy contractors.