Pharmacy2U join the Company Chemists’ Association

Pharmacy2U, the UK’s largest online pharmacy, has joined the Company Chemists’ Association (CCA).

First established in 1898, the Company Chemists’ Association is the leading trade association for multiple pharmacies. The CCA provides a unique forum for its members, bringing together their experience, resource, knowledge, and scale, so that it can represent their interests and drive forward their collective priorities.

The CCA has an unrivalled reputation across Government and the NHS for being able to provide accurate and up-to-date information along with pragmatic and progressive solutions. We speak with authority and experience about issues affecting the community pharmacy sector on a national scale.

The CCA has spearheaded the design and delivery of the recent COVID-19 and flu vaccination programmes, led the campaign to highlight the damaging impact of ARRS recruitment on the sector and more recently, was at the heart of efforts to secure the government’s commitment to a funded Pharmacy First service in England, a core part of the organisation’s Prospectus.

The CCA’s vision is that everyone, everywhere, can benefit from world class healthcare and wellbeing services provided by their community pharmacy.

Since the company’s founding in 1999, Pharmacy2U has grown to deliver over 1.6 million prescriptions a month to over 750,000 patients. Pharmacy2U also administered over 1.5 million COVID-19 vaccinations during the pandemic, working in partnership with NHS regional teams.

Pharmacy2U’s support for the COVID-19 vaccination programme continued a proud history of partnership working with the NHS, first established in 2002 when Pharmacy2U supported the creation of England’s first-ever Electronic Prescription Service. With a central ambition of supporting access to more convenient and sustainable NHS pharmacy services that are built around patient needs and preferences, Pharmacy2U is strongly aligned with the CCA’s mission of enabling community pharmacy evolution.

Pharmacy2U’s vision of a thriving pharmacy sector is one that provides the backbone to NHS primary care provision, through a cross-sectoral approach that effectively utilises the expertise of both digital-first and High Street providers across the provision of prescriptions, clinical care, and health promotion. Pharmacy2U’s current focus is on exploring how it can support delivery of the national Delivery plan for recovering access to primary care, and it looks forward to working with CCA – and its broader membership – on delivering shared goals for the future of pharmacy.

Malcolm Harrison, Chief Executive of the CCA said: “I am delighted to welcome Pharmacy2U into the CCA.

The CCA and its members have always embraced innovation and change. Our members have led on the hub and spoke model for supplying medicines, offering online medical services, and developing new private healthcare services, including Flu Vaccinations, Sore Throat Test & Treat, and Independent Prescribing Clinics. Several of our members already operate their own Distance Selling Pharmacies (DSPs), therefore, having the largest DSP in England join the CCA is a natural fit.

As the trade association for multiple pharmacies, we have always been at the forefront of pharmacy evolution. We work hard to help shape the future of community pharmacy by creating an environment where our members can operate with confidence.

Kevin Heath, CEO of Pharmacy2U said: “It is a huge pleasure to announce Pharmacy2U’s membership of the CCA. It has been a true privilege in my first year as Pharmacy2U’s CEO to get to know our people and the range of services we offer to make pharmacy care more accessible, from dispensing repeat prescriptions to providing COVID-19 and flu vaccinations. I am confident that, as part of the CCA, we will be able to play an even greater role in ensuring the pharmacy sector is able to cope with – and even thrive against – the growing demands placed upon it.

The CCA does a commendable job in representing multiple pharmacy organisations of all shapes and sizes. I am looking forward to meeting the CCA’s broader membership in the coming weeks and months, and sharing our own insights as to how the pharmacy sector can deliver for patients now and in the future.”