Boots UK announced today (July 19) that it will offer training bursaries worth up to £7,000 to 500 pharmacists to help them qualify as independent prescribers.

Employee pharmacists have been invited to apply for the funded course places, which begin in September. The company said it will “enable time off work for those who need it to complete the training”.

The company said it was preparing for a “future where there is a pharmacist independent prescriber in each of its stores,” adding that the announcement of training funding follows a pilot of a private prescribing service in 10 stores in England.

Boots chief pharmacist Marc Donovan said: “At Boots, our ambition in the coming years is to have a pharmacist prescriber available at every store.

"Pharmacists are highly trained healthcare professionals that, with the right training and support, will be fully equipped to prescribe certain medicines as well as dispense them. This will give patients greater and more convenient access to the medicines they need.   

“Our investment in training for 500 pharmacists and our private service for England demonstrates our commitment to the future potential for prescribing in community pharmacies, which we believe will save time and money for GPs and other parts of the NHS.”