Sunak reiterates that his party is committed to supporting pharmacies further through the expansion of the Pharmacy First programme
With the 2024 General Election campaign reaching its peak, the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, made a significant stop at the Bestway Healthcare Service Centre (HSC) depot in Stoke-on-Trent on Monday.
Accompanying the Prime Minister on the site tour were Lord Zameer Choudrey, Chief Executive of Bestway Group, and Haider Choudrey, the group’s Chief Financial Officer.
During the site tour, Sunak engaged with the staff and participated in a Q&A session.
When asked about funding plans for pharmacy, he passionately reflected on his personal connection to community pharmacy, revealing that he grew up in a family of pharmacists and spent much of his youth helping the family with prescription deliveries.
He then expressed his support for the expansion of the Pharmacy First programme, which aims to improve access to healthcare through community pharmacies.
“You might have heard over the past few years that my mum was a pharmacist, so you can feel I’m very much at home being with all of you here this morning,” Sunak said, addressing the assembled staff.
“Now I know firsthand what an incredible job pharmacies do. You have my enormous gratitude and admiration for everything you do to support in providing fantastic healthcare. We’re backing you to do even more with the Pharmacy First programme.”
The new Pharmacy First service that started on 31 January 2024 enables community pharmacists to manage patients for seven common conditions without GP referral.
“Now, if you have a sore throat or an ear infection, you don’t have to see your GP. You can go straight to your pharmacist and get the consultations that you need as quickly as you need them. That difference to billions of people is only possible because of everything that you are doing. So, a massive thank you to all of you for that.”
In an exclusive interview with Pharmacy Business last week, the Prime Minister emphasised the need to gradually increase investment in out-of-hospital services.
“Pharmacies are at the heart of our communities – and they are also close to my heart,” he said.
He also reiterated his party’s commitment to expanding the Pharmacy First service, which is expected to free up an additional 10 million GP appointments.
During his visit to the HSC depot, the Prime Minister saw firsthand the outcomes of substantial investments by the Bestway Group into the multi-channel site, which serves over 760 Well Pharmacies and more than 5,000 independent pharmacies daily.
The HSC depot also houses an online digital pharmacy, an online over-the-counter (OTC) shop, a centralised script fulfilment centre, and holds approximately 10 million packs of medicine in stock.
Sunak was impressed by the levels of automation and innovation that make the HSC such a successful operating model.
