Boots, UK's oldest pharmacy, had NHS overcharging, dispensing errors, pharmacist suicide

Boots was founded in 1849 in Nottingham by John Boot and grew into Britain's oldest and largest pharmacy chain, with over 2,400 stores. For generations, it was a trusted high street institution. In 2014, the company merged with Walgreens to form Walgreens Boots Alliance, and the pressure for profits intensified.

The first scandal broke in April 2016, when The Guardian published 'How Boots went Rogue,' detailing how pharmacists were pressured to meet sales targets and conduct unnecessary NHS medicine reviews. The NHS paid £28 per review, up to 400 per shop per year — a system Boots was accused of exploiting. The report prompted a flood of letters from pharmacists describing impossible working conditions.

In February 2018, The Times revealed Boots had charged the NHS over £1,500 for a moisturiser that retailed for under £2, and over £3,200 for a chemotherapy mouthwash available from independent suppliers for £93. The pricing was defended by Boots as 'bespoke,' but the scale of the overcharging drew national outrage. A BBC Inside Out documentary in January 2018 reported that three patients had died following dispensing errors at Boots pharmacies. A former patient safety employee stated that Boots had calculated over £100 million in additional annual staffing was needed but had not invested it.

In May 2015, Boots pharmacist Alison Stamps died by suicide. Her parents wrote to Parliament calling her 'a victim of corporate greed,' and a House of Commons debate in October 2017 criticised Boots' response. The company announced 200+ store closures in May 2019 and 4,000 job cuts in July 2020. The scandals did not destroy Boots — its pharmacy network was too essential — but they shattered the trust that had sustained the brand for 170 years.