ProPharm Services, Scotland’s leading independent provider of pharmacy and prescribing support services, has expanded its service offering following support from Business Gateway East Renfrewshire.
ProPharm was launched in 2018 by pharmacist, Sarah Cameron, with the aim of alleviating the pressures GPs face with workload challenges in primary care. Over the last seven years, the business has grown from a singular pharmacist service to a leading independent pharmacy service provider, employing 11 people, including eight independent prescribing pharmacists who have a primary focus on patient care.
Sarah, who has 22 years of experience working in hospital, community and primary care pharmacy, works closely with fellow director, Patricia Davies, who joined the business in 2022 with over 20 years of pharmacy experience and a background in community and primary care.
Sarah and Patricia share a passion for improving patient outcomes by helping people access NHS care in a timelier manner by enhancing pharmacy support services. The whole ProPharm team works to provide a range of clinical skills to support GP practices across Scotland, allowing pharmacists to undertake appropriate monitoring and assessment at the point of care, saving clinician time and enabling comprehensive reviews of treatment.
Over the last few years, Sarah and Patricia have worked closely with Business Gateway East Renfrewshire, receiving support from adviser, Scott Arnot, who provided advice on funding, hiring and expansion, and management consultancy. The pair also received tailored advice through the East Renfrewshire Accelerator (ERA) programme, which is funded by East Renfrewshire Council. This allowed Sarah and Patricia to sharpen their financial sustainability and strategic focus for future growth.
In addition, Business Gateway provided digital support to help assist with the initial development of the company’s online platforms.
Since launching, ProPharm has gone from delivering a single weekly prescribing session for one GP practice to now supporting GP practices with 4,500 patient interventions each month across four Scottish health boards.
In the last year, the business has expanded condition-specific clinics in asthma, diabetes and cardiovascular care, and led medication safety initiatives focusing on higher-risk medicines. The business is now beginning to partner with pharmaceutical companies and projects that bring evidence-based treatments and services that will make a positive impact on communities across Scotland.
ProPharm recently won two awards, Best Performing Business and Employer Excellence in Wellbeing, at the 2025 East Renfrewshire Business Awards, further strengthening its reputation as a leader in both industry performance and employee care. The business has also been recognised in the Business Women Top 100 list and were finalists in the 2024 Scottish Healthcare Awards.
Looking to the future, Sarah and Patricia are also keen to recruit and develop more prescribing pharmacists so that they can extend their support to additional GP practices without diluting quality.
Sarah Cameron, founder, ProPharm, said:
“We are proud to be reshaping primary care, improving patient access and easing GP workload in Scotland. Support from Business Gateway East Renfrewshire and the Council’s ERA Programme has been vital for growing and developing our business."
"Looking ahead to our plans for the next year, I can confidently say that none of it would be possible had it not been for the support we have received, which has allowed us to expand our recruitment, understand risk and make significant changes to our digital platforms. We have also connected with a wider network that has brought a huge breadth of knowledge, contributing to our business growth.”
Scott Arnot, Business Gateway adviser, said:
“Sarah and Patricia are doing incredible work to drive forward the future of healthcare. It’s very clear that they both care about helping their patients and providing the highest level of care possible. Supporting ProPharm has been so rewarding, and I am looking forward to seeing where the business goes from here.”
To find out more about ProPharm Services and the work that they do to improve patient care across NHS Scotland visit here.
To find out more about Business Gateway and how they can help your business grow and succeed, visit here.
