The vast majority of the average turnover of a community pharmacy (in some cases 90%) is derived from NHS income streams. Over the last few years members have reported to the NPA that they have seen a reduction in margins for NHS income, for a variety of reasons.
Whilst members of the general public are accustomed to healthcare free at the point of delivery in the NHS – people are also willing to pay for services. This depends upon your customers’ demographics, but an increasing segment of the UK population is willing to pay for convenience and accessibility. Implementing a private service can have the following advantages:
- Income derived from private patient services is not subject to any form of clawback / discount deduction.
- Increasing the professional profile of the pharmacist and your pharmacy in the eyes of the general public
- Collecting evidence to make a business case to the PCO that there is a patient need to get the same private service commissioned as a NHS service.
