July 30, 2014
  • Rushport Advisory

Distance Selling Pharmacy Applications Approved

This month we have secured several new Distance Selling or ‘Internet Pharmacy’ contracts for clients who had all had previous applications refused by either NHS England or the Appeal Unit.

In every case the applicants had originally applied and NHS England had requested additional specific information from them about their SOPs. The applicants were unable to satisfy NHS England that they would be able to operate ‘safely and effectively’ and their original applications were refused – at which point they contacted Rushport. We worked with each applicant to produce new SOPs that were specific to their way of operating the business and which also incorporated all the additional information that is required for Distance Selling pharmacies. Each application was then approved, but it is a pity that the applicants all wasted the original £750 application fee.

The list of reasons being used by NHS England to refuse this type of application is continuing to grow. Almost always the refusals are because the applicant tries to use retail pharmacy SOPs and try to modify them for a Distance Selling application. This approach rarely works and it is much better to have properly written SOPs if you are going to be setting up a new pharmacy business.

If you are thinking about setting up this type of pharmacy then please call Conor Daly for an informal discussion about how we can help you.