Hub and spoke dispensing is a model where medicines are dispensed centrally by one pharmacy on behalf of another. This review has been published as legislative changes took effect from 1 October 2025, which allow hub and spoke dispensing across different legal entities to enable greater efficiencies by utilising larger scale automated dispensing processes that hub sites can provide. (1)
The final report highlights key themes and learning points from fifty-five inspections of pharmacies utilising the hub and spoke model over a two-year period.
Roz Gittins, Chief Pharmacy Officer, said:
“While many pharmacies demonstrated strong practices, particularly in automation and business continuity, we found that further improvements could often be made in areas such as standard operating procedures development, risk assessments, error reporting, compliance of responsible pharmacist (RP) legislation and training.
“We would encourage everyone who is already using hub and spoke dispensing, or is considering using it in the future, to carefully consider our recommendations and how they could be implemented. The examples of good practice and insights we’ve shared will help pharmacies using the hub and spoke model to consistently meet our standards for registered pharmacies”.
The review provides targeted recommendations for pharmacy owners, superintendent pharmacists, and pharmacy teams preparing for the expanded use of hub and spoke models, across five themes: governance and risk, legal and regulatory compliance, operational processes, staffing and patient experience.
The recommendations emphasise the importance of having:
- robust governance frameworks
- clear defined roles and responsibilities between hub and spoke entities
- comprehensive staff training, and
- transparent communication with patients.
The report will be shared with key stakeholders including relevant government departments, professional leadership bodies and representative organisations in Great Britain.
Notes for editors
(1) The legislative changes include changes to both the Medicines Act 1968, section 10 and The Human Medicines Regulations 2012 on the 01 October 2025.