Patients often experience significant delays in accessing prescription-only treatments, frequently waiting days or weeks for GP appointments. The COVID-19 pandemic has further complicated access, with many practices now requiring cumbersome online consultation forms that can be inefficient and time-consuming, often directing patients to NHS 111 and delaying their access to treatment.
Our service addresses these challenges by empowering pharmacies to provide prescription-only medications (POMs) directly through our prescribing service. Partnering with us allows pharmacies to offer a wider range of treatments, ensuring timely and effective care for patients. This not only enhances patient outcomes but also solidifies the role of pharmacies as integral healthcare providers within the community.
Our primary offering at launch is the Health First Service, which provides prescription medication for adults, covering 50 common low-risk acute, chronic, and seasonal conditions. We plan to expand our offerings in the initial three months following launch to include treatment for children and to increase the number of conditions covered to 70. Community pharmacies frequently serve as the first point of contact for patients seeking relief from minor ailments. However, pharmacists often face situations where POMs are necessary but must refer patients to their GPs, leading to delays. In other cases, over-the-counter (OTC) medications are suggested when a prescription-only option would be more effective.
Our core innovation lies in offering POMs to a broader patient base through electronic private prescriptions, creating an accessible and cost-effective treatment model. For a flat rate of £20 to £35 for most medicines—covering both medication and consultation—patients can access treatment without enduring long waits for GP appointments or mailing delays commonly associated with online pharmacies. In contrast, private consultations typically cost between £40 and £60, excluding medication costs, and involve shipping times for delivery. Our service aims to provide same-day medication collection, with a long-term goal of dispensing treatment directly upon the completion of an online consultation on our platform.
Our online consultation process features an intuitive questionnaire designed to be completed in just five minutes. Our pharmacist prescribers review these consultations, allowing them to issue electronic private prescriptions within minutes to the partner pharmacies. We anticipate that 50% of treatments will require no further patient input, 25% may need additional clinical review using trusted medical sources (e.g., BNF, NICE CKS), and the remaining 25% will involve brief follow-up calls from our pharmacists to clarify medical history before finalising a treatment plan.
This streamlined process supports community pharmacies in generating substantial revenue from their existing customer bases, with an expected profit margin of £10 to £19 per dispensed Medication — significantly higher than the £1 to £1.50 margins achieved on comparable NHS prescriptions. By targeting current customers who value convenience and rapid service, pharmacies can increase their income without the need to attract new patients.
While some online pharmacies may offer medications at a marginally lower cost compared to us (£5-£10 savings), patients must wait several days for their prescriptions to arrive and often lack the trust they have in their local, well-established pharmacies. Our service leverages these trusted community pharmacies, enabling them to provide fast, reliable, and professional service while maintaining the patient relationships they have built over the years.
To keep online GP services cost-effective, many providers leverage Pharmacist Prescribers, Advanced Nurse Practitioners, and Advanced Clinical Pharmacists, as they can manage a wide range of conditions with lower hourly rates. These clinicians will be employed in addition to GPs to deliver the private GP service. We are well-positioned to launch this service, as our existing team of pharmacist prescribers provides adequate capacity and expertise. We intend to charge £35 for each GP appointment, which includes services provided by all our clinicians. Our partner pharmacies can generate additional income by dispensing the provided prescriptions issues by our clinical team.
This service is planned to launch within six months of our initial rollout.
Our service introduces a blood testing option through our partner pharmacies, enhancing its trustworthiness and personalization. Although the tests are conducted at home—with samples sent to a laboratory for analysis—this approach still improves the patient experience by associating blood tests with the familiarity of the pharmacy environment and the support of trained pharmacists.
Patients benefit from personalised consultations that help them choose the most appropriate tests based on their unique health needs. By collaborating with a specialised private laboratory for blood testing services, we will provide this comprehensive offering in a way that is both accessible and affordable.
Additionally, our home test kits, delivered by post, allow individuals to conveniently collect their blood samples at home using clear instructions provided in the kit. Once collected, patients send their samples to the laboratory for analysis, and results are typically made available online through our clinical management system, ensuring immediate access to vital health information without the need for an in-person visit.
Furthermore, for results that require follow-up, patients can consult with trained clinicians on-site. This model combines accessibility, expert guidance, and personalised care, setting our pharmacy-based blood test service apart from other providers.
Our profit share for this service is set at a standard rate of £10, excluding the cost of the blood test kit. Additionally, we plan to charge an extra £20 for the interpretation service, which patients can choose to include if desired.
We plan to introduce this service at the beginning of our second year of operation.
The widespread adoption of the Pharmacy First initiative is fostering a notable shift in patient behaviour, leading more individuals to view pharmacies as their first point of contact for treatment. This change in mindset is likely to increase demand for our private services, positioning us for growth in this evolving landscape.
With the rising uptake of this service, pharmacies will need effective strategies to manage demand operationally. Since our existing 50 consultation service already covers these seven NHS conditions, we believe that our medical questionnaire model is ideally suited to integrate with this NHS service within our prescribing platform. With minor adjustments to our current software, we plan to incorporate this essential service and enable pharmacies to partner with us at cost price. We are providing this service to help Pharmacies run the service more efficiently in order to save Pharmacist time and ultimately make it more profitable.
We plan to introduce this service within six months of launch.