The Rise of the Online Distance Selling Pharmacy and What It Means for Locums in the UK

The growth of online distance selling pharmacies has accelerated significantly in recent years.

Driven by digital prescribing platforms, remote consultations and changing patient expectations, more pharmacy businesses are operating without traditional face to face retail models.

For locum pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and dispensers, this raises important questions:

• Will online pharmacy reduce community locum demand?
• Will it affect locum rates?
• Are new opportunities emerging?
• What skills are becoming more valuable?

The reality is more nuanced than many assume.

What Is a Distance Selling Pharmacy?

A distance selling pharmacy is a registered pharmacy that provides services remotely rather than through face to face interaction.

Under NHS regulations, distance selling pharmacies must:

• Not provide essential services face to face
• Deliver medicines to patients
• Meet NHS Terms of Service requirements
• Comply with General Pharmaceutical Council standards

Many operate through online consultation systems and centralised dispensing hubs.

Why Are Online Pharmacies Growing?

Several structural factors are driving expansion:

• Increased use of electronic prescriptions
• Growth of private online clinics
• Demand for convenience
• Expansion of weight management and travel services
• Pressure on GP access

This has led to high volume dispensing hubs and more centralised workforce models.

What Does This Mean for Locum Pharmacists?

The impact is not simply positive or negative. It depends on region and role.

Shift in Work Environment

Online pharmacies do not operate traditional counters. This reduces demand for walk in advice roles but increases demand for:

• Clinical checking
• Digital consultation review
• Governance oversight
• Prescribing support

Pharmacists with strong clinical and digital skills may find growing opportunities in these environments.

What Does This Mean for Pharmacy Technicians?

Technicians are increasingly important in hub based models.

Demand is rising for technicians who can:

• Support high volume dispensing
• Undertake accuracy checking
• Manage workflow systems
• Assist with governance and audit processes

Accuracy checking technicians in particular may see sustained demand.

What About Locum Dispensers?

Dispensers will still be required, but the nature of work may change.

Distance selling environments often involve:

• High efficiency workflows
• Digital system familiarity
• Less face to face patient interaction

Adaptability and digital confidence are increasingly important.

Will Online Pharmacies Affect Locum Rates?

This is the key concern.

The answer is yes — but not uniformly.

Could Online Pharmacies Push Rates Down?

In some urban areas, potentially.

Large distance selling hubs often:

• Operate at scale
• Standardise processes
• Offer structured shift blocks
• Maintain tighter labour cost control

If more pharmacists move into hub based roles, this could increase supply in certain cities, which may soften rates for traditional community shifts in those specific areas.

However, this effect is unlikely to be nationwide.

Could Online Pharmacies Push Rates Up?

In other areas, yes.

If pharmacists move into:

• Remote prescribing roles
• Online private clinics
• Structured hub employment

This may reduce availability for:

• Rural community pharmacies
• Weekend cover
• Hard to recruit regions

Reduced supply in these areas can support stronger locum rates.

In reality, the market may become more segmented rather than uniformly lower.

Different Impact by Role

Pharmacists

Rates may become more polarised:

• Structured hub rates may remain stable
• Rural and high demand regions may continue commanding premiums
• Specialist clinical roles may attract higher pay

Uniform national rate expectations are becoming less realistic.

Technicians

Technician rates may strengthen in centralised environments, especially for:

• Accuracy checking technicians
• Governance focused roles
• High volume operations

The shift towards technician led workflow could increase long term value.

Dispensers

For dispensers, rates may stabilise in urban areas with high workforce supply but remain steady in traditional community settings where counter support remains essential.

What Still Drives Locum Rates?

It is important to remember that rates are primarily driven by:

• Local supply and demand
• Urgency of cover
• Geography
• Service pressures
• Recruitment challenges

Business model alone does not determine rates.

The More Likely Long Term Scenario

The most realistic outcome is:

• Greater segmentation of the market
• Stable structured rates in hub models
• Continued premiums in rural and high pressure areas
• Increased importance of clinical and digital skills

Community pharmacy is evolving rather than contracting.

What This Means for Locums in 2026 and Beyond

To protect earning potential, locums should focus on:

• Clinical confidence
• Service accreditation
• Digital literacy
• Adaptability
• Reliability

The profession is diversifying. Opportunities are broadening rather than disappearing.

Final Thoughts

The rise of distance selling pharmacies represents a structural evolution in UK pharmacy.

It will influence working environments and may reshape regional rate dynamics. However, it is unlikely to cause uniform rate decline across the profession.

Instead, we are seeing diversification, specialisation and regional differentiation.

For locums who remain adaptable and professional, opportunities remain strong across both traditional and online models.

If you are exploring work across community and distance selling settings, Pharm-Assist supports pharmacies and pharmacy professionals across the UK with structured, compliant and transparent staffing arrangements.