From October, new legislation will enable pharmacies across separate legal entities to take advantage of hub and spoke dispensing, pending parliamentary approval.

NHS England modelling has previously suggested that hub and spoke dispensing will increase 2% each year, freeing up workforce capacity to deliver more clinical services.

But some sector leaders have raised concerns about whether using hubs for some or all of the dispensing process will be economically viable for independent pharmacies.

Others have suggested less costly ways of taking advantage of the legislation.

Related Article: Hub and spoke changes expected to come into force in October

NPA: Hub and spoke 'not a silver bullet'

Gareth Jones, director of corporate affairs at the National Pharmacy Association (NPA), said: 'Some independent pharmacies may find hub and spoke to be a useful mechanism for releasing time for patient care.

'However, this is certainly no silver bullet as far as pharmacy finances are concerned.

'The medium to long term business case only stacks up for local pharmacies if there is an ongoing pipeline of NHS investment in clinical services, to make productive use of the staff time released.'

He also said the NPA would 'keep an eye out for unintended consequences' of the legislation, 'because this is a substantial change in pharmacy practice that needs to operate safely and efficiently for patients and on a level playing field for contractors'.

Harry McQuillan: Economic model 'remains unclear'

Harry McQuillan, chair of pharmacy membership group Numark, said the expected October start for hub and spoke changes was 'a welcome move toward enabling greater flexibility and efficiency in community pharmacy'.

But he said the economic model for hub and spoke dispensing across different legal entities 'remains unclear' and stressed that this would be 'critical in determining how this change will truly benefit the sector'.

Further detail of changes to pharmacy regulations – currently being discussed with national negotiators – was also necessary for pharmacies to make informed decisions, he noted.

'It’s essential that the regulatory and economic frameworks align to offer genuine, practical advantages to the sector,' Mr McQuillan said.

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HubRx: Hub and spoke can increase buying margin and clinical capacity

Daniel Lee, chief executive of HubRx and Pharmacy Plus Health, said using automated hub and spoke solutions for his own pharmacy group had delivered 'increased buying margin and more capacity to maximise clinical services'.

Welcoming yesterday's announcement, he said: 'For far too long the ability to use hub and spoke to manage unprecedented dispensing volumes has been closed to many pharmacies, and only available to a select few.'

Centred Solutions: Independents considering 'co-operative dispensing hubs'

Louise Laban, sales and marketing director at hub and spoke provider Centred Solutions, said the new legislation made hub and spoke dispensing 'an accessible option for all pharmacies'.

'This model of dispensing is a scalable cost-effective solution that can reduce payroll costs per item by up to 81%, take 50% of total dispensing volumes out of branch and release at least four hours of pharmacist time and eight hours of dispenser/technician time on average, per day, in an average pharmacy.'

Related Article: Government to introduce hub-to-spoke dispensing across legal entities this year

Ms Laban said that among smaller pharmacy groups, there was a perception that 'the only option available to them is a third-party hub'.

But she said: 'That is absolutely not the case.'

And she highlighted examples of 'like-minded pharmacy groups who are looking to set up their own co-operative dispensing hub so they keep the benefits and ownership in house'.