Grocer and Government in talks to open in-store surgeries
Sainsbury's is in discussions with the Government to open a raft of GP surgeries in its stores.

Sainsbury's chief executive Justin King met with public health minister Caroline Flint last week and further meetings are scheduled next week between the grocer and Department of Health representatives.

The grocer wants to become a key partner in the Government's proposed healthcare reforms. Last month, Secretary of State for Health Patricia Hewitt revealed in her White Paper on the NHS that she would take 'healthcare to the doorstep'.

Sainsbury's sees an opportunity to install GP surgeries in its stores that have pharmacies and believes that moving into healthcare is a natural fit for the brand.

The supermarket group has 154 in-store pharmacies and is to open a further 25 over the next three months.

A Sainsbury's spokeswoman said the retailer plans to work with the Government to test a GP surgery in-store, which will be rolled out to more outlets if successful. The retailer's store development team is already assessing suitable locations for the trial.

Health and beauty market leader Boots will also move more aggressively into healthcare with its proposed£7 billion merger with Alliance UniChem, which has been cleared by the Office of Fair Trading.

The deal will enable the merged group - Alliance Boots - to grab a bigger slice of the£1.76 billion annual Government fund paid to pharmacies that offer health services, such as medicine reviews.

At present, 80 per cent of Alliance UniChem's turnover comes from prescriptions and 40 per cent of Boots' is from dispensing and sales of over-the-counter medicines.

The OFT has ruled that Boots must dispose of 100 shops for the deal to go ahead. To preserve competition, the outlets must be passed on as ongoing pharmacy operations. Lloydspharmacy and Superdrug are both understood to be interested in the stores.