Solar and robots help group

High street community pharmacies are suffering as a result of a 30 per cent reduction in NHS funding over the last few years.

Sussex-based and familyowned Kamsons Pharmacy has seen an increased demand for everything from flu vaccinations to dispensed medicines in its 80 pharmacies this winter. Their free, local prescription home delivery service has grown significantly from preCovid times.

This has required investment in an updat- e d pharmaceutical warehouse to safely and economically supply pharmacies with daily deliveries. Innovative technologies mean Kamsons are the only pharmacy in the UK to use robots to dispense medicines in a warehouse now powered by green energy.

Her Majesty The Queen Consort, then HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, officially opened the warehouse during the pandemic and was impressed with the use of both solar energy and robots. Kamsons installed 892 solar PV panels in the Uckfield office and warehouse to slash energy bills and reduce their carbon footprint.

Simon Armstrong-Barnes, project manager, said: “Pharmaceutical warehouses have exceptionally high energy costs compared to many other industries because of the energy required to keep medicines cool or refrigerated. Kamsons can now work off-grid from April to October and they pay much lower energy bills in the winter months too. In difficult economic times, thanks to costsaving innovations like robots and solar power, Kamsons is still able to provide high quality service to patients while other pharmacies are closing.”