Sainsbury's aims to double its pharmacy revenue in the next three years, driving the expansion with "significant growth" in hospital outpatient pharmacies.
The supermarket giant has been awarded an outpatients contract at a hospital in Middlesbrough and is recruiting staff for the pharmacy.
Sainsbury's, which has pharmacies in 253 stores, saw a 4.5 per cent growth in its pharmacy business last year and plans to open 10 more pharmacies in 2012.
The multiple has reported strong growth in key service areas, with flu vaccinations up 230 per cent on last year already and cholesterol testing services expected to increase by 50 per cent in 2012. The move into hospital pharmacy came after successes in this area for other multiples.
In September, Lloydspharmacy reported that its dispensing service at the Royal Cornwall Hospital had "significantly" reduced patient waiting times and the Co-operative Pharmacy revealed that it had moved into secondary care, after being awarded a seven-year outpatient dispensing contract with Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
Sainsbury's plans coincide with the launch of the company's Wells Challenge, which will see 10 families using Sainsbury's pharmacy services to improve their health and wellbeing, with outcomes independently measured.
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