A new Edinburgh pharmacy has been opened by three young pharmacists in their mid-20s as they have turned their “dream into reality”. 

The trio studied at Aberdeen’s Robert Gordon University and have saved enough money together in their short careers to purchase Polwarth Pharmacy in the west of the city, which will be rechristened as Carewise Pharmacy when it opens on April 8. 

Read more: How two 23-year-old pharmacists snagged an ex-Lloydspharmacy branch 

One of its owners Yousef Khalil, 25, said that they had started putting a plan “into action a couple of years ago” to save up for a pharmacy as they wanted to “work together” during their careers. 

“Me and Jamil met the very first day of freshers week in university,” Khalil told C+D. “Since then, over the four years of university, we always discussed opening a pharmacy together. There’s so much trust between the three of us.” 

Jamil Hussain, 26, the eldest of the group and brother to Nuhan Hussain, 23, have both worked in community pharmacy since graduating, working at Right Medicine, Omnicare and Rowlands. 

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Khalil worked in primary care but went into community and held managerial positions at Wells and Boots before starting Carewise. 

“Even though we’ve been qualified for a short period of time, we’ve experienced a lot, and a lot of different ways to do things,” Khalil said. “We’ve all worked for big companies and experienced things we liked so we made a note of them.” 

He doesn’t see it as “a big issue for us” in mixing friends and family with business and believes providing “amazing service” for patients will help Carewise counter financial difficulties that are plaguing the sector. 

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“We’re looking to make the pharmacy experience better for every single patient that comes through our door and bring back the true essence of community pharmacy to know that they can come talk to us anytime they want. If we stick to that, we’ll be fine.” 

The pharmacy has five staff members and Khalil said it will plan to offer all its target 60 private services as soon as possibl, including weight loss support, flu vaccines, travel, alcohol reduction, conjunctivitis, dermatitis and ear infections.

Khalil added they will start a phlebotomy service too as it’s “not in the area we’re in at the moment in Edinburgh”. 

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“It’s honestly something we’re all incredibly proud of, and it’s the perfect pharmacy for us,” he said. 

It’s not the first time a young group of pharmacists have bought a pharmacy in Edinburgh after 23-year-olds Ather Diab and Farhad Mehmood opened their first pharmacy, an ex-Lloydspharmacy branch, in Edinburgh in November 2023.