In early 2025, Michael Holden started to consider how he could take all he has learned over almost 50 years as a pharmacist and his various leadership and consultancy roles to create a model for the future of community pharmacy.
Everyone who works in or with community pharmacy knows how the challenging economic and workload landscape has been for owners and their teams over recent years and now it’s harder than ever to maintain a viable business. This is certainly true in the UK, but it’s no different in most countries across the world as governments struggle with the costs of increasing and ageing populations and more ill health due to poor lifestyle choices.
But what is the solution? Attempts to negotiate more funding to turn unprofitable services into profitable ones to pay increasing overheads are not working. That is unlikely to change significantly in the short or medium term due to the government’s financial limitations against the increasing demand on health and care systems.
Owners can and do spend a lot of time worrying about matters outside of their control or influence. What is needed is a focus on matters that are in their control – their premises, their team, the way they utilise technology, their services, inventory and marketing.
Changing one thing may help a little, but only by addressing all elements will they be able to develop a new hybrid business model that is less dependent on the NHS. This requires the development and delivery of a portfolio of private services to meet identified local needs, underpinned by good clinical governance and an experience that is valued by patients.
Like all change, this must start with ensuring the correct climate of leadership is in place, one which engenders a shared purpose, vision and culture that is owned by an engaged and empowered team. The next step is to develop and execute a plan to deliver a more profitable and sustainable business for the future.
Applying all his experience and working with Victoria Steele and a range of trusted partners, they have developed a movement and a model called Modern Community Pharmacy Practice (www.mcpp.uk). The model is flexible enough to meet all needs and is supported by a framework, a roadmap, and self-assessment and action-planning templates, all available for download from the website.
No one is saying that this is easy, and the challenge for many independent owners is finding the headspace to even think about where they want to be and how to get there. However, working on their business as well as in it is a must-do if they are going to adapt, survive, and thrive. The MCPP model can help support the required processes and steps. They work in partnership with clients with coaching support if required and commissioned.
