Member

The concept of hub-and-spoke dispensing, where a central facility prepares medicines in bulk for distribution to local pharmacies, is presented as a measure to free up valuable pharmacy time. The stated aim is to allow community pharmacists to engage more directly in clinical services, to provide vital advice, to manage long-term conditions and to offer preventive care. We wholeheartedly support this ambition; indeed, the Liberal Democrats have long championed the expansion of pharmacists’ clinical role as a cornerstone of accessible primary care. However, we must ask: will these regulations genuinely deliver on that promise, or do they instead risk creating a two-tier system, undermining our vital community pharmacies and, potentially, creating issues with patients being unable to get their drugs from their local community pharmacists?