Articles & guides
Practical writing on independent prescribing, healthcare education and clinical practice — for the clinicians and teams who turn knowledge into safe, confident care.
Independent prescribing: is it worth it for pharmacy owners?
Your prescribing qualification is the starting point. My Part 3 video on portfolios, mentoring, governance and the business case for pharmacy owners.
A High Conners Score Is Not a Diagnosis: 4 Things No ADHD Rating Scale Can Tell You
A very elevated score raises the question — it never settles it. What no rating scale can establish, why the symptom count is overrated, and when to query a diagnosis someone else made.
Tics Don't Block ADHD Medication: What NG87 Requires Before the First Dose
Coexisting tics don't rule out a stimulant. The threshold to treat, why methylphenidate is first-line, the baseline work-up, and the six cardiac findings that mean cardiology first.
Before You Invest: Follow the Money (and Find the Charge)
Where does your money actually go — and who holds the security? A plain-English guide to the chain of claims, secured vs unsecured, and the 5 questions to ask first. Not advice.
Two Pharmacy Giants, Two Endings: What Scaling Really Takes
Before you build a chain, learn from how Lloyds and Jhoots ended. One chose its exit; one had it chosen. The difference was structure, systems and control — not luck.
How to Portfolio a Competency (Activity vs Assessment)
A portfolio isn't a log — it's assessed evidence, mapped to a framework and countersigned. Miller's triangle, Mini-CEX, CbD, DOPS, MSF, and a worked example.
Get on Your ICB's Prescribing List (Before the Deadline)
NHS prescribing is opt-in — the ICB won't come find you. The dates, the 24-hour rule, why the "readiness survey" is really the list, and exactly what to do today.
How Do You Prove You're Competent? (And Why Pharmacists Get Struck Off)
Competence is evidenced, not conferred. A certificate proves you turned up — the regulator judges what you did. Epstein & Hundert, Miller, Benner, scope of practice, and the three steps that prove it.
Creating a Niche Pharmacy Business: Why Niche Gets Bought
A niche pharmacy just changed hands for ~£2.1m — no accident. Generic competes on price; niche gets bought for its patients, its private income and its governance. How to build one worth buying.
The Governance Behind Community Pharmacy Prescribing: NHS England's 2026 Rulebook, Explained
Not the Wild West — the opposite. Fitness to practise vs fit for purpose, the annual declaration, monthly supervision, the portfolio, and every prescription tracked to your registration number.
How to Make Your Private Prescribing Clinic Safe and Compliant
No one regulates your clinic? Then govern it yourself — training, indemnity, GPhC + CQC standards, a real governance structure, audits and the documentation that survives an inspection.
The Regulatory Loophole for Pharmacists
An independent prescriber can open a private clinic anywhere — but who regulates it? The gap between the CQC and the GPhC, why Wales and Scotland closed it, and why you're still regulated.
What First-Time Buyers Should Understand Before Acquiring a Pharmacy
Four things before you sign: the business model (average item value), compliance with both the GPhC and the NHS contract, TUPE staff you inherit, and enough accounting to not get stung.
Training Pharmacy Technicians: Why Remote Supervision Is Coming — and What It Means for Pharmacists
A ~£360k tender to train pharmacy technicians in London is a signal, not a one-off. My read: within five years, remote supervision — one pharmacist over multiple shops, technicians to Level 4. Why pharmacists shouldn't panic, but must upskill and move toward prescribing.
How to Set Up a Chain of Pharmacies on Under £200k: Buy the Contract, Not the Shop
The trick independents use to turn one pharmacy into a group — invoice discounting against your guaranteed NHS statements to fund the next deposit, why the contract is the real asset, and the honest risks of building on leverage.
How to Market Your Pharmacy or Clinic in the UK: Authority, Not Just Advertising
The difference between advertising and marketing, becoming an authority in your niche, using AI to build content, free local webinars, and the MHRA rule that means you can't advertise prescription-only medicines.
How to Set Up an Online Prescribing Service in the UK: Governance, SOPs and Safe Prescribing
Why the HSSIB is investigating online prescribing, why governance is where clinics fail, and how to set up safely — an independent governance committee, bespoke SOPs, audits, insurance, medical-records access, and why questionnaires alone don't work.
Should You Pay for a DPP? Who Should Really Foot the Bill
A DPP who assesses and mentors you should be paid — but who pays, you or the state? Why I think the state should, what Wales already does, and what to do if you're stuck.
Should Pharmacies Dispense at a Loss? Legal vs Moral
Buy stock for £10, get reimbursed £7 — and legally you cannot refuse. How the Drug Tariff lag creates losses, why legal doesn't mean right, and the real-time fix.
The Weight-Loss Pill Is Here — So Why Is Mounjaro Still Better?
The first oral GLP-1 pill (orforglipron / Foundayo) is approved — but the injection Mounjaro still wins. The single- vs dual-agonist biology, in plain English.
Why I Don't Read the Accounts When I Buy a Pharmacy (and What I Verify Instead)
The bottom line can be window-dressed. The numbers you can actually verify — NHS schedules, VAT returns, PAYE, rent and rates — and how to do real due diligence.
Opening vs Buying a Pharmacy: Which Should You Do?
One route costs £800k+, the other a £750 application. The honest trade-offs on cost, time, risk and control — and when each one makes sense.
How Does a Pharmacy Make Money? The 4 Income Streams (and Why There Are More)
NHS dispensing, NHS services, over-the-counter retail and training — plus the private services most owners leave on the table.
Why You Can't Just Open a Pharmacy (Even If You Have the Money)
It's a controlled market for a reason. The pharmaceutical list, the 2013 Regs, the one word nobody warns you about — the PNA — and the four routes to a new NHS contract.
Critical Thinking in the Age of AI: Why Clinicians Still Need to Think
AI hands you information in seconds, but it can't hand you judgement. Why critical thinking, lifelong learning and clinical competence matter more now, not less.
5 Mistakes That Cost Pharmacy Owners Hundreds of Thousands
The avoidable errors that catch first-time buyers — overpaying, misreading NHS payments, TUPE staff liabilities, weak due diligence, and the 90-day cash-flow gap.
How Much Does a Pharmacy Owner Actually Make? The Honest Numbers
Turnover isn't profit, and profit isn't your take-home. What a 10,000-item pharmacy really turns over, the ~10–15% net margin, and what an owner actually pockets.
Should You Buy a Community Pharmacy in 2026? An Honest Look Before You Commit
The honest numbers before you sign anything — what it costs, the funding squeeze, the survival stats, and the three types of owner who actually make pharmacy pay.
Faheem Ahmed on GPhC Fitness to Practise: What Really Happens — and 5 Lessons I Learned
I went through fitness to practise myself. How the process actually works — the three stages — and five honest lessons, plus the governance that protects your registration.
Orforglipron Explained: the Oral GLP-1 Weight-Loss Pill With No Needle
Why a non-peptide small molecule can be a daily GLP-1 pill — no injection, no fasting window — built up from the chemistry.
How to Describe Any Condition Like a Consultant: a 10-Point Framework
A simple clinical reasoning framework — ten things to say about any condition — with a full UTI worked example.
How to Demonstrate Clinical Competence (Not Just Credentials)
Why a course, a title or years of experience don't make you competent — and the practical way clinicians prove and develop it.
How to Find a Designated Prescribing Practitioner (DPP) in 2026
Why finding a DPP is harder in 2026, who qualifies to be one, and a practical sequence to secure one.