Boots’ DSP expanding following successful pilot

Boots’ dispensing support pharmacy (DSP) was launched with the aim of freeing up pharmacists’ time. It uses scanning and verification technology to check the accuracy of prescriptions being put together, labelled and bagged. Following the success of the 2014 pilot scheme in 50 UK stores, Boots’ DSP will be extended to a total of 580 stores with the capacity to dispense 22 million prescriptions every year. The DSP was used in 425 Boots stores by the end of June 2019, and a further 25 stores week commencing 8th July, 2019. 50 more stores will start using the dispensing support pharmacy during August, followed by another 80 stores in the next few months thereafter.
Chair of the English Pharmacy Board at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, Claire Anderson, embraced “digital innovations along with other enablers to enhance pharmacists’ patient-facing roles” but was not sure whether DSP actually frees up pharmacists’ time. A Boots spokesperson said: “When the rollout is completed, the DSP will dispense 1 in 10 Boots prescriptions and 1 in 50 prescriptions across the UK.”