Pharmacy Branch Totals

[rafhelp]

Are there any official figures or do you know the number of the following, in Great Britain.

Independent Pharmacy Chains (e.g Rowlands).
Actual individual independent pharmacy branches.
Total number of pharmacy branches in the uk

Just some research im doing.

thanks

[the old merlin]

Are there any official figures or do you know the number of the following, in Great Britain.

Independent Pharmacy Chains (e.g Rowlands).
Actual individual independent pharmacy branches.
Total number of pharmacy branches in the uk

Just some research im doing.

thanks

Actually, these are quite difficult questions!
The total number of pharmacies can be obtained from the RPSGB, although that's not 100% accurate, as some hospital pharmacies are registered so that they can sell items to patients and staff as well as dispense for patients (and do all the other things they normally do!). PSNC MIGHT have a better answer, as they SHOULD know how many NHS pharmaceutical contracts there are, although again some hospitals have such contracts, and there are some pharmacies which don't dispense NHS prescriptions.
I'm not sure what you mean by "independent Pharmacy chains"! If you mean separate companies, then the Company Chemist Association will probably know the answer. However I'm not sure if companies such as Day Lewis, which is privately owned, are members.
As for the second question, it depends on the definition! Honestly. No-one seems to know how many pharmacies are operated by one owner-manager. The usual definition (by PSNC and the NPA) is that an "independent" is where a pharmacist, or a partnership or limited company ons and operates not more than 5 pharmacies.

Hope this helps.