The company launching a major automated hub and spoke facility for independents has appointed Dr Sarah Passmore, who spent 11 years at Rowlands Pharmacy overseeing a number of automation projects, as its superintendent pharmacist.

HubRx founder Daniel Lee, who launched Pharmacy2U in the 1990s, said the appointment would be a boost for his latest venture in Leeds – an automated hub which HubRx said could free up prescription dispensary time for 200 independent pharmacies.

“We’re delighted to welcome Sarah to HubRx. Her experience as a community pharmacist, her background in pharmacy regulation and her knowledge of industry automation mean she can combine a professional understanding of the challenges independent pharmacists face with first-hand experience of how technology can provide a solution that maintains patient safety standards,” Mr Lee said.

HubRx said the facility at Logic Leeds Business Park has the capacity to automate 12 million items a year. Dr Passmore said the challenge of joining the company excited her.

“Pharmacists are highly trained in delivering clinical services to patients and like me, it’s often a part of their job that they thoroughly enjoy. The option of using hub and spoke to support dispensing prescriptions will give community pharmacists the gift of more time that can be spent helping patients,” she said.

“I’m excited to join HubRx and for it to become the first state-of-the-art automated pharmacy hub designed for independent community pharmacists to launch in the UK.”

During her 11 years at Rowlands, Dr Passmore was regulatory development manager, professional and regulatory affairs manager and professional standards pharmacist.