Peak Pharmacy chooses Knapp and Centred Solutions for hub and spoke dispensing

Currently, 82 pharmacies are sending their original pack repeat dispensing orders to the Peak Pharmacy hub, with the remaining 53 stores set to join by the end of September

“The Peak Pharmacy hub project is a great example of what can be achieved when different technology and automation companies work together alongside pharmacy,” said Darryl Dethick, Head of Business Transformation at Peak Pharmacy.

The 135-store group invested in a multi-million-pound dispensing hub at its new headquarters in Chesterfield.

Currently, 82 pharmacies are sending their original pack repeat dispensing orders to the hub, with plans to onboard the remaining 53 stores by the end of September.

Peak Pharmacy’s hub and spoke vision became a reality with the integration of Knapp automation for its medication dispensing line, and Centred Solutions FLOWRx, a critical software that connects the automated dispensing line and warehouse management system to its stores.

Dethick noted that the new dispensing hub has enabled their staff to focus on patient care

“We have all brought our different level of expertise to the table and have created a cutting-edge solution which is taking volume out of our stores so that staff have more time to spend on face-to-face patient care,” he said.

Peak Pharmacy, one of England’s largest pharmacy groups, currently processes around 1.5 per cent of the country’s prescriptions across its pharmacy branches.

Joe Cattee, Managing Director at Peak Pharmacy, noted that they recognised the need to adapt their approach to stay at the forefront of community pharmacy.

He shared that by partnering with companies like Centred Solutions and Knapp, they were able to create “the opportunity for us to survive during very real economic challenges for pharmacy.”

“We must engage with other ways to support our patients, rather than just focusing on prescription fulfilment.

“By using technology we can offer so much more to our patients across the country and support them with their requirements,” Cattee added.

Centred Solutions Chief Commercial Officer, Paul O’Hanlon, highlighted that while Knapp are specialists in logistics automation, they are not pharmacy specialists.

Knapp provides warehouse solutions with their P2P line for automated and manual picking, but they do not provide an interface between the pharmacy store and their system.

Centred Solutions fills this gap by integrating their software to connect the pharmacy stores with Knapp's automation system.

“Very few pharmacy groups have their own IT team or the knowledge of what is required to build the software needed to connect pharmacy stores to the Knapp solution and the warehouse management system that the automation uses,” Paul stated.

Centred Solutions FLOWRx allows the pharmacy stores to send an order to the hub which can then be run through its dispensing line.

Paul explained: “The software will batch patient orders and provide all the patient labelling data for the production line. This then allows the automation to produce patient-specific totes with labelled and bagged medication which can then be sent back to the store as completed bags ready to be booked back into the PMR for collection.

“The software also notifies the store when the order has been completed and is on its way back to the hub.”

Founded in 1981, Peak Pharmacy has expanded from a single pharmacy into a prominent business with over 135 locations and an online pharmacy through mergers and acquisitions. In July 2023, moved into its new purpose-built warehouse and head office in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, bringing all corners of the business together under one roof.