For an immediate reference from a successful client please call Dr Tim Reed of Woodbridge, Suffolk on 01394 615500 whose company now run Waterton Pharmacy Ltd, Woodbridge.

This is a particularly interesting case as a previous application, using a different adviser, failed just two years previously. 

Yes, it's true.  Following regulation changes over the past few years it has never been easier for companies of GPs to own their own pharmacy with all the benefits, financial and otherwise, which go with that.    And you don't have to be a dispensing doctor.  The changes apply even more to urban practices even if there are already one or more pharmacies nearby.

And what's more the pharmacy won't mean much in the way of extra work because the Royal  Pharmaceutical Society regulations insist that the responsibility for running it must be in the hands of your superintendent pharmacist, so give it some serious thought.

Just as a taster, do remember that virtually every patient will use an in-house pharmacy - from day one!

There are a number of new routes through the new Control of Entry regulations - thanks to Sainsbury's and Tesco's who were responsible for the Office of Fair Trading enquiry of two or three years ago.

Give me a call on 01462 434515 or Davidroberts@doctors.org.uk  or, even, 0796 3041 668 to get the ball rolling.

I will immediately give you an indication of  your chances of success and, if they are realistic, offer to follow that up with a visit to your practice to meet all the partners to discuss the way forward.  The meeting, which could, if you wish, last most of the day, will be informal and I will be open to questions at any time and on any related subject.

First of all I will give each partner a copy of a detailed booklet on the project specially written for the practice and amounting to some 15-20,000 words.   A not unimportant section of this will be a close assessment of the potential profitability of the enterprise using your own practice figures.   Other parts set out the Control of Entry Regulations for a pharmaceutical services contract with the PCT and list all the books and evidence needed for a successful application together with, hopefully, everything else you will need to know.

We will then thoroughly discuss the best route for the partnership application to take and go through all the documents, material and evidence needed to put in a comprehensive and detailed application whilst avoiding the pitfalls which could lead to failure.     The possible objections of pharmacists and others will be covered to enable suitable pre-emptive defences to be included in the application.

This discussion and planning meeting could take several hours but, at the end of the day you should be ready to set about putting together an application for a platinum-standard pharmacy.  

The fee charged for this, Stage one, will be minute in comparison with the potential gains for most practice and, of course, it will be tax-allowable.   The partners at one practice found they could reasonably expect an additional annual income of £50,000 each and a business worth around £million even before trading begins.

In Stage two, if the practice wishes, at a later date, I will help to put together an effective application for a pharmacy contract and then examine and discuss the completed application with the practice before it is submitted to the PCT.   To be effective the application will need to be detailed and comprehensive and will take some time to put together.  The basis of the application is a previously successful one of another of my clients.    Once again there will be a reasonable fee.  The application is likely to run to between 80-120 pages of A4 and will be submitted to me, in stages, several times during its construction.

Inbetween times, as the application is being prepared, I will be very pleased to attempt to answer any queries by e-mail or telephone as they arise.

If you are interested in finding out more - and why should you not be? -  please contact me as above, Davidroberts@doctors.org.uk,  to talk it over, discuss fees and to make the appointment for a visit.

Remember, this applies not only to the highly endangered dispensing practices but equally to urban practices who may wish to  supplement their income whilst providing complete primary care.

Don't forget, the fees are a tax-allowable business expense.

In the meantime I hope that you will find my book helpful.    "Your own pharmacy", David Roberts, Radcliffe Medical, ISBN 1-85775-630-4

(6/8/07)