Business

‘Danger to life’: Storm Éowyn shuts down NI pharmacies

 
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Storm Éowyn has temporarily shut down some Northern Irish pharmacies after the Met Office issued a red weather warning that “represents a likely danger to life and severe disruption”.

Government-funded pharmacy to rent out consultation rooms

 
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A pharmacist has received a six-figure loan from the Welsh government to open a new pharmacy with rentable consultation rooms for other “independent contractors”.

Two thirds of pharmacy owners want to buy or sell in 2025, reveal pharmacy brokers

 
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68% of UK pharmacy owners surveyed by pharmacy brokers Christie & Co want to “buy and/or sell” in 2025, as the average price of pharmacies sold and asking price achieved in 2024 both dropped according to a new report.


Boots parent company losses plunge to $265m in first quarter

 
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Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) has revealed that its losses increased 296% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2025.

NI extends free flu jabs to over-50s as other nations rule out move

 
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Northern Ireland has become the only country in the UK to extend its NHS flu vaccination programme to the 50-64 age group amid increasing pressure on hospitals.

P2U, Jhoots, Enimed: Who made the biggest profits and losses?

 
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As we enter the new year, pharmacies have filed their annual accounts – with reports ranging from “satisfactory” profits to multimillion-pound losses...


Pharmacy closures will place ‘great strain’ on GPs, RCGP warns

 
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The GP body has warned that “any closures” in the pharmacy network will add pressure to GPs “struggling to meet demand”.

‘We have no choice’: Dutch pharmacies strike for second time in two months

 
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Close to 2,000 pharmacies are taking part in a two-day national strike calling for “higher wages” and “lower work pressure” less than two months after their previous strike.

Pharmacy First consultation payment caps rise up to 94%

 
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New caps on the maximum number of paid Pharmacy First consultations have begun this month, rising between 55% and 94% across different types of pharmacies.


‘Horrifying’: Pharmacy Access Scheme fails to prevent 58 closures

 
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NPA analysis has revealed that the £20 million Pharmacy Access Scheme funded by the pharmacy contract failed to protect dozens of isolated pharmacies from closing since 2022.

Pharmacy ‘may not survive winter’ as pharmacist MP urges govt to avoid 'past 14 years' of mistakes

 
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CPE data shows 96% of pharmacy owners are “concerned” or “very concerned” that “their business may not survive this winter” as Sadik Al-Hassan MP is “eager to see this government avoid mistakes made during the past 14 years that have brought our sector to a crisis point”.

CVS slapped with nationwide lawsuit over ‘unlawful’ opioid prescriptions

 
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The US DOJ has filed a lawsuit against CVS alleging its “actions helped to fuel the opioid crisis” as it “prioritized corporate profits over patient safety”.


Streeting and Kinnock say it will be a ‘New Year’ start for pharmacy contract negotiations

 
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Health secretary says funding negotiations will begin “shortly in the new year” as pharmacy minister says the delay is because negotiations “did not get over the line before the general election”.

Pharmacy First 'enormously successful', says CCA

 
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The CCA’s Nick Thayer says Pharmacy First has been “enormously successful” in its first year and he expects 2.5 million consultations by the end of March 2025.

Boots remains tight-lipped over ‘fresh auction’ rumours

 
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Boots parent company Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) has remained taciturn amid fresh rumours that it is in talks to “sell itself” to a private equity firm in the new year.


NHSE launches 24/7 support for ‘overwhelmed’ pharmacists

 
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NHS England (NHSE) has launched a “confidential 24/7 text support service” for pharmacists who are feeling “worried or overwhelmed” and need someone to speak to.

Third of US pharmacies have closed in a decade, study reveals

 
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Almost 30% of US retail pharmacies closed in the decade between 2010 and 2021, a new study has revealed.

CPE ‘united in anger’ as pharmacy contract negotiations ‘stuck’

 
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CPE has expressed “severe frustration and intense anger” as it reveals that pharmacy contract negotiations are “stuck” between the Department of Health and Social Care (DH) and NHS England (NHSE).


Employers ‘forcing’ pharmacists to be DPPs amid ‘two-tier’ IP system

 
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Some pharmacies are “forcing employees to be designated prescribing practitioners (DPPs)” while DPPs at “one large multiple” are not “routinely prescribing themselves”, Pharmacists’ Defence Association (PDA) members have warned.

‘Ye Oldest Chymist Shoppe in England’ on the market for £125k

 
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England’s “Oldest Chymist”, now a café and gift shop, is available for “offers around £124,950”, an estate agent has revealed.