Boots and Co-operative Pharmacy ‘performing well in NMS delivery’

Boots and the Co-operative Pharmacy have performed above expectations in a new report assessing the current delivery of the new medicines service (NMS).

Figures from the NHS show that 6,129 pharmacies delivered the NMS in May 2012, with 22 percent of these being Boots branches, despite the company owning only 17 percent of UK pharmacies, reports Chemist and Druggist.

A further eight percent were Co-operative Pharmacy branches, exceeding its five percent market share, with the latter organisation offering NMS through the highest proportion of its outlets at 84 percent.

The NMS was launched in October 2011 and is designed to offer improved support to people with long-term conditions that have been newly prescribed with a medicine, with the overall aim of enhancing treatment adherence and cutting wastage.

A Boots UK spokesperson said: "We believe that NMS empowers and informs our patients about managing their medications and advice from our pharmacists means that customers can feel confident they are taking their medication in the most effective way."