The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) CEO Duncan Rudkin has said that the regulator will consider whether “additional guidance is required” if the legislation is changed to roll out the hub-and-spoke model across all pharmacies. Gareth Jones, head of corporate affairs at the NPA, stressed that it was up to individual businesses to implement hub and spoke in the future and assess whether it would benefit them. However, Mr Jones argued that there is not “a huge business incentive for independent pharmacies” to introduce the model. “I don’t see [hub and spoke] revolutionising pharmacy practice within multiples either”, Mr Jones continued.

The General Pharmaceutical Council called on pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to get the vaccine, following health secretary Sajid Javid’s decision to make COVID-19 jabs mandatory for staff working in Care Quality Commission (CQC) registered businesses.