The autumn Budget this week provided little comfort for those working in community pharmacy, writes Head of Marketing, Shelley Dyer. Despite under-funding of the sector of over £2billion, costs are going up fast and without new support measures and a fit for purpose new funding contract, many struggling businesses will feel the strain more intensely than ever.
One measure in particular will hit pharmacies hard - a further rise in the National Living Wage (NLW). For a sector where resource represents one of the largest cost centres and where margins remain notoriously tight, this poses a real challenge. According to analysis by Community Pharmacy England, the national living wage increase alone – from £12.21 to £12.71 per hour – will cost the sector an additional £69-£94m a year from April 2026.
Why the Increases Hurt Pharmacy More Than Most
Community pharmacies are already significantly underfunded and have been for a number of years. Equally they rely heavily on trained support staff, pharmacy technicians, dispensers and counter assistants, many of whom sit close to the NLW threshold. When the minimum wage rises, the impact isn’t isolated to a few team members, it can increase costs across the entire staffing structure.
This happens at a time when:
Pharmacies continue to be asked to do more, with less and at a higher cost.
Why Traditional Strategies Won’t Be Enough Anymore
Despite the funding challenges, pharmacies have tried to absorb wage rises by improving efficiency, trimming opening hours or relying on overtime and goodwill within teams. Many pharmacies have simply been unable to absorb the increases and have had no alternative but to close their doors for good.
With workloads increasing and funding inadequate, pharmacies are being stretched to breaking point. Every increase in prescription volumes, coupled with an increasing demand for services, usually requires more staff for those pharmacies who rely on traditional dispensing models.
This is where pharmacy automation becomes not just helpful, but essential for those pharmacies looking to survive in this new world.
How Automation Can Offset Rising Wage Costs
Automation allows pharmacies to increase throughput without increasing headcount. It reduces repetitive manual tasks, frees clinical staff for patient-facing care and absorbs demand in a way humans simply can’t. In addition, an effective original pack hub and spoke model will allow pharmacies to take up to 60% of total dispensing volumes out of branch, significantly reducing pressure on staff.
But not all automation is created equal.
To fit the hub and spoke model, many traditional picking robotic dispensing systems require:
Their scalability is linear, not exponential - volume goes up, staffing goes up.
Pharmacy businesses should be looking for automation that scales without expanding the workforce and this is what sets FLOWRx apart from traditional robots.
Why FLOWRx Scales Without Adding More Staff
FLOWRx has been purpose-built for the modern hub-and-spoke dispensing model. Instead of relying on multiple packing terminals tied to a PMR system, each one requiring a staff member to drive it, FLOWRx uses a fully integrated automated line designed to absorb increasing dispensing volumes without increasing operational staffing.
Key advantages of FLOWRx over traditional robotic systems:
1. True hub-and-spoke designTraditional pharmacy robots were built as “in-store tools” and need to integrate with smart PMR systems to make them effective as a hub solution.
Each time you:
…you need more people to operate them.
FLOWRx, by contrast, is engineered from the ground up as a centralised automated production line, so scaling capacity isn’t tied to adding staff.
2. Throughput increases without proportional staffingWhether you're dispensing 5,000 items per week or scaling toward 50,000, the FLOWRx system continues to handle labelling, assembly and accuracy checks using a core staffing model.
3. A single workflow instead of multiple terminalsTraditional robotic dispensing requires a PMR-integrated packing station for each operator.
FLOWRx consolidates the entire process, dramatically reducing manual interventions.
Because staffing stays flat while volume increases, the cost to dispense each additional item falls. This is what pharmacies need now to offset wage and NIC increases.
5. Improved accuracy and reduced dispensing errorsRemoving repetitive, manual tasks increases consistency and reduces risk which becomes especially important when less staff time are available due to rising costs.
Automation Is Now a Financial Necessity
With wage costs rising faster than pharmacy funding, every community pharmacy, especially those considering hub and spoke, need to look closely at their model for original pack dispensing in the future.
The question is no longer “Should we automate?” - It’s “Which automation solution reduces staffing dependency as we grow?”
Traditional robots offer efficiency but not true scalability. FLOWRx offers both and is specifically designed to protect pharmacy businesses from the kind of financial pressures created by wage inflation and rising employer contributions. For pharmacies feeling the squeeze of this week’s Budget, scalable automation isn’t just helpful, it may be the difference between coping and closing.