11.27.2025 Shelley Dyer
The recently published Independent Prescribing in Community Pharmacy Pathfinders evaluation, commissioned by NHS England, provides a clear, evidence-based picture of how community pharmacies have implemented independent prescribing services and where barriers remain. While pharmacists were on the whole positive about independent prescribing, and its potential to transform community pharmacy into a more clinical, patient-centred service, the evaluation highlighted several operational and system-level challenges that need addressing if more pharmacies are to adopt IP sustainably. Our Head of Marketing, Shelley Gibbins, explores how hub and spoke can directly support community pharmacies in overcoming these challenges and unlocking the full potential of independent prescribing.
1. Freeing Up Pharmacist Time for Clinical Services
A recurring theme from the Pathfinder evaluation was that it was essential that pharmacists had protected time and capacity to focus on clinical activities such as consultations and prescribing, time which is often taken up by dispensing workload.
How Hub and Spoke Helps
Traditional dispensary workflows tie pharmacists to administrative and logistical tasks like picking, labelling and packing prescriptions. Hub and spoke models shift these routine dispensing processes to a central hub operation, freeing up pharmacists in branch to prioritise clinical services such as independent prescribing.
FLOWRx Advantage
Centred Solutions’ FLOWRx solution was designed specifically for original pack hub and spoke. It automates and manages the flow of repeat prescriptions from spokes (the branch pharmacy) to the central hub and automates the hub dispensing process, cutting down manual dispensing effort across the board. This directly releases four hours of pharmacists’ time per day on average allowing them to complete more patient consultations, manage chronic conditions, and carry out prescribing duties.
2. Improving Workforce Skill Mix and Clinical Focus
The evaluation found that pharmacies delivering independent prescribing often had to rethink skill mix in branch, ensuring that other pharmacy team members could handle dispensing, allowing independent prescribing pharmacists to concentrate on clinical work.
Hub and Spoke Impact
With a hub and spoke model all elements of the original pack repeat dispensing process are centralised and standardised. This makes it easier for all members of the pharmacy team to be deployed more flexibly, for example technicians and dispensers can support with other patient facing services, further freeing up the independent prescriber’s time.
FLOWRx Role
FLOWRx integrates with pharmacy management systems and automates large parts of the dispensing workflow. This reduces dependency on pharmacist intervention for operational tasks and enhances the productivity of the whole pharmacy team.
3. Supporting Digital Infrastructure and Workflow Integration
The Pathfinder evaluation underscored the importance of robust digital infrastructure and interoperable systems to support safe prescribing, including access to patient records and reducing the administrative burden for pharmacists.
Hub-and-Spoke Contribution
An effective hub and spoke system creates standardised digital workflows for prescriptions. It ensures that patient medication data flows consistently and accurately from the point of prescription through to fulfilment, reducing discrepancies and improving traceability.
FLOWRx Integration
FLOWRx InStore connects pharmacy PMRs with hub operations and supply chains, enabling automated prescription handling, tracking and reporting and providing full visibility for staff in branch. This means fewer manual touchpoints, lower risk of errors and better visibility of operations.
4. Creating Resilient, Sustainable Business Models
One of the key concerns raised around independent prescribing services has been funding and viability, with some warning that pilot arrangements could be financially unsustainable under current models.
Hub-and-Spoke Economics
By centralising dispensing and lowering overall operating costs (e.g., stock holding) hub and spoke models can improve financial efficiency. Pharmacies can reinvest capacity and revenue into clinical services, including independent prescribing, rather than primarily focusing on dispensing volume.
FLOWRx Options
Centred Solutions also supports JointVenture Co-operative and ManagedService hub models, where smaller pharmacies can access hub services without heavy upfront investment. This opens up hub and spoke as a viable model for pharmacies of all sizes.
Enabling the Next Generation of Community Pharmacy
Independent prescribing represents another transformational shift in how community pharmacies deliver care. However, the Pathfinder evaluation clearly shows that realising this vision at scale requires more than just clinical qualifications, it needs capacity, digital integration, operational efficiency, workforce redesign and financial resilience.
By adopting hub and spoke dispensing models and leveraging FLOWRx by Centred Solutions, pharmacies can:
- Reclaim clinical time from dispensing duties
- Streamline operations and improve workflow reliability
- Build flexible workforce models
- Support safe, integrated prescribing services
- Create sustainable, scalable business models
Hub and Spoke and FLOWRx are no longer just “nice to have” tools, they are practical enablers of future-facing pharmacy practice in an era where clinical services, especially independent prescribing, will be key differentiators for community pharmacy success.
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