Loyal Member
When you have a new surgery opening on a brand new estate how do you find out whether you can set up a pharmacy there? Is it just a case of asking PCT, or do you speak to surgery? I wondered if this is better than taking over existing business, as you have guaranteed business especilly if you're next door.
Defender Of Pills
i would do both! It may be that nearest pharmacy is already applying for a contract transfer, or that the gp surgery wants to set up its own pharmacy - either way, it does no harm to check!
“It's not worth doing something unless you were doing something that someone, somewhere, would much rather you weren't doing.”
Terry Pratchett
Registered Pharmacist
A word of caution however. If the surgery is new it may not have a significant list of patients. As a rule of thumb each registered patient will generate about 13 prescriptions a year. Obviously on an estate where there are significant populations of elderly patients that will be higher but on an estate with lots of young people's flats with hard working professionals and no children it will be less.
A patient list size of say 1000 will generate about 13000 prescription items per year which is just over 1000 per month. That would not be viable.
There may be other opportunity for OTC sales but don't count on it.
If you can afford to live on a shoestring for a couple of years however, patients may well decide to register with the surgery precisely because there is a pharmacy adjacent and you could well have a goldmine on your hands! Also you will be getting opportunities as white paper roles are developed
However fitting it out, stocking it and doing all the business stuff such as acquiring freehold or lease can be expensive so do your sums.
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