Boots boss: ‘Providing more healthcare on high streets can help keep them healthy too’

The high street looks very different today than when I first joined Boots as a Saturday colleague over 30 years ago.

The growth of online shopping and the evolution of bricks-and-mortar stores to becoming spaces that provide more experiences through services and expertise is well under way, transforming how communities use their local high streets.

For me, nowhere is that transformation more apparent – or important – than in healthcare. Our pharmacies are no longer where people come to only collect their prescriptions.

Thanks to our highly trained pharmacy teams, people can now get on-demand healthcare advice, a diagnosis and prescription-only treatments for a broad range of common conditions, and access to preventative healthcare services like blood pressure checks and vaccinations.

A large proportion of these vital services are delivered on behalf of the NHS, and we are incredibly proud of that, especially at a time when the NHS is under significant pressure with waiting lists of 7.4 million patients and demand for GP appointments outstripping capacity.

I have been impressed by the Health Secretary Wes Streeting’s openness to change and new ways of thinking. He has been clear in his vision that much of what’s done in hospitals today could be done over the phone, through the app, or on the high street.

“I fully support the ambition of the plan, and its emphasis on increasing the role of community pharmacy in the neighbourhood health system”

At Boots we have encouraged successive governments to think creatively about how to work with community pharmacies and other high street healthcare providers to rapidly expand access to more clinical services in our neighbourhoods.

That is why I welcome the vision set out in the NHS 10-year plan published yesterday and the emphasis on bringing health into the community.

It represents not only a huge opportunity to revolutionise how people access healthcare but can also bring wider benefits to our high streets up and down the country.

The benefits to patients are clear. Since the introduction of Pharmacy First in England, we have delivered an average of 35,000 consultations a month for common conditions like sore throats, earache and UTIs. Nearly nine in 10 adults who have accessed the service reported a positive experience, citing convenience and speed as key benefits.

As well as enabling patients to access care at the heart of communities, more healthcare delivered at the heart of the high street also allows our clinical teams of pharmacists, optometrists and audiologists to fully utilise their clinical skills and helps stretched GP surgeries spend more time supporting patients with more complex needs.

“Retailers and the government must now work together to ensure we do not waste this once-in-a-generation opportunity we have to revolutionise how people access healthcare”

I fully support the ambition of the plan, and its emphasis on increasing the role of community pharmacy in the neighbourhood health system, including in the management of long-term conditions.

Key to the success of this plan will be in its implementation and I’d like to hear more from the government on the role of community pharmacy and optometry in delivering high street healthcare for the NHS.

The health and social benefits are clear, but there are wider economic benefits too. Providing more healthcare on the high street can help to keep them healthy and in turn, breathe new life into towns and city centres as people have more reasons to visit their local pharmacy or opticians.

High streets remain vitally important to our communities and provide a much-needed physical connection point. They are here to make us better – inside and out.

Retailers and the government must now work together to ensure we do not waste this once-in-a-generation opportunity we have to revolutionise how people access healthcare and the benefits it can bring to patients across the UK.