The Company Chemists’ Association (CCA) today (December 18) announced that Lincolnshire Co-op “will be joining as a member as of 1 January 2025”.
The Co-op, which has its own membership scheme and dividend card, offers a “widespread programme of community support” that includes a “pop-up community health pod” and tours community events “offering free health checks”, the CCA said.
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It operates a pharmacy wholesale business and a central fill pharmacy serving “over half of its branches”, the body said.
“[And] the facility, based in Lincoln, has dispensed over 1.4m prescription items so far this year”, it added.
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The Co-op, which owns 43 pharmacies and has been offering its services for over 160 years, provides “its customers and patients with a wide range of NHS and private services”, the CCA said.
These include blood pressure and cholesterol checks, travel vaccinations and smoking cessation services.
“Perfect fit for the CCA”
CCA’s chief executive Malcolm Harrison said the “operation and scale of Lincolnshire Co-op means that it is a perfect fit for the CCA,” he said.
And he added he was excited to share “knowledge, experience and skills with each other, for the benefit of patients, the NHS, and the community pharmacy sector”.
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And Lincolnshire Co-op’s head of care Alice Hare said she was “looking forward… [to] contributing to [the CCA’s] efforts to build the future for community pharmacy”.
“We have worked with the CCA on specific areas of pharmacy practice for several years, and joining the CCA feels like the best way for us to continue with our collaboration and benefit from the exceptional support it provides members,” she said.
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Meanwhile, leaders from the CCA, along with the National Pharmacy Association (NPA), Independent Pharmacies Association (IPA) and Community Pharmacy England (CPE) wrote a joint letter to health secretary Wes Streeting last month warning of pharmacy closures caused by the autumn budget.
The four pharmacy bodies said they needed to “impress upon [the government] the urgent need to shield community pharmacies from the increased costs and measures in the budget”.
