EXCLUSIVE

Boots is training more than 7,500 staff to step into a new patient-facing role, C+D has learned.

The health and beauty giant announced in November that it will train all of its dispensers to transition to a newly-created “pharmacy advisor” position. These individuals will “work across both the dispensary and healthcare counter” to spend more time “getting to know patients and addressing their individual needs”, Boots said at the time.

The multiple told C+D yesterday (January 11) that 375 dispensing assistants are scheduled to take on this role “over the next few months”, and dispensing assistants across the multiple had “warmly welcomed” the “agility” offered by the new role.

Boots is training a total of more than 7,500 staff to become pharmacy advisors, including Boots apprentices, new recruits and customer assistants, it said.

Pharmacy teams have been “encouragingly positive” about the pharmacy advisor position, Boots said. “Our colleagues know that the introduction of the role has been planned for some time and fully understand the added value the new role brings,” Boots told C+D.

Announcing the news in November, Boots said it had revised its pharmacy technician development programme to allow technicians to “play a greater role in running dispensaries”.

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