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Dispensing

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Atorvastatin was most dispensed medicine in England in 2025-26

The statin is the most dispensed medicine since 2016-17, while 78 million items were dispensed in 2025-26.

04 Jun 2026

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Lib Dem MP alleges some chains redirect patients to independents for loss-making drugs

Andrew George alleged some chains were falsely telling patients “those medicines are unavailable” but did not name any chains.

03 Jun 2026

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Labour warns pharmacies will break the law if they refuse to dispense loss-making drugs

The Department of Health and Social Care told ICP that dispensing at a loss was “not a valid reason for refusing to dispense".

22 May 2026

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NPA and IPA assess pharmacies’ legal position if they stop dispensing loss-making drugs

NPA chairman Olivier Picard said it was uncertain if pharmacies would lose their NHS contracts.

20 May 2026

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Public in Wales believe dispensing is pharmacies’ most important role

Forty-four per cent of 1,220 adults who took part in the YouGov survey said dispensing was most important.

15 Apr 2026

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Labour consults on plans to give pharmacies “fairer” reimbursement

The government said expanding the scope of its data collection on medicines will also help mitigate shortages.

13 Feb 2026

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Pharmacies should stop dispensing loss-making medicines

Contractor Ashley Cohen said the measure could be “a nuclear button" but insisted pharmacists should not “subsidise the NHS drugs bill”.

23 Jan 2026

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Government must align pharmacies’ dispensing payments with wholesaler bills

National Pharmacy Association chair Olivier Picard wrote to health minister Stephen Kinnock this week.

12 Dec 2025

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Large-scale automated dispensing hub opened to independent pharmacies today

HubRx, which operates hub, said it will dispense over 12 million items for independents every year.

29 Oct 2025

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MP passes allegations Jhoots claimed for medicines not dispensed to NHS fraud body

Labour MP Sadik Al-Hassan told the NHS Counter Fraud Authority about “alleged irregularities in claims for NHS drug dispensing”.

20 Oct 2025

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Profit pharmacies in England earn on dispensing is £430m short, claims CCA

The Company Chemists’ Association called on Labour to explore a shared margin system across UK.

24 Sep 2025

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Government launches consultation on dispensing flexibilities for pharmacists

The proposal is to give pharmacists the power to supply a different strength, formulation or quantity of a prescription medicine when it is unavailable.

18 Sep 2025

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Pharmacist who dispensed for online prescriber without conducting safety checks warned

Sajid Khan Rasool did not check if there were written prescribing procedures in place and if the online service recorded clinical interventions.

15 Aug 2025

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Pharmacist who dispensed two brands without SSP and committed CD breach warned

Christopher Serhat Ulus dispensed Medikinet 5mg tablets and Tranquilyn 5mg tablets against a prescription for Medikinet 5mg tablets without an SSP.

11 Aug 2025

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Number of prescription items dispensed in England increases to 1.26 billion

The most dispensed drug in 2024-25 was Atorvastatin with 73 million items, according to data from the NHS Business Services Authority.

05 Jun 2025

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Independents dispense 70 per cent more items as shrinking multiples 'diversify'

Data points to a vast gap in prescription items between independents and multiples

13 May 2025

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