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Exclusive: Healthera has told P3pharmacy it “usually” refuses requests from contractors to have their listing removed from its directory, despite some frustrated pharmacy owners claiming the directory is “misleading” and “unethical” in how it operates.

In addition to operating a public-facing directory of all UK pharmacies that often appears prominently in search engines when a member of the public looks up a particular pharmacy, Healthera offers certain services to its roughly 1,700 partner pharmacies, who pay subscription fees starting at £89 a month. 

The services offered through the platform include consultation booking, analytics, direct messaging with patients and OTC medicine sales, as well as facilitating repeat prescription ordering for patients through Healthera’s app and website. 

But a number of contractors who do not work with the company have complained that the ‘Order your prescription’ button that appears on every pharmacy listing diverts users away from non-Healthera partners and towards partner pharmacies.

Posting on LinkedIn today (November 19), one superintendent pharmacist said: “This is a massive problem in the industry that I approached Healthera about. They have simply ignored me.

“They list all our pharmacies on their website and have an ‘order your prescription’ button on the page which takes the customer through another ordering process that is nothing to do with us. Clearly misleading.” 

Boo Dhaliwal, owner of Touchwood Pharmacy in south London, posted: "We do not partner with the Healthera prescription ordering app, and as a result our patients cannot order prescriptions through their platform.

"Despite this, Healthera website lists all of my pharmacy branches.

"Healthera, please remove any reference to pharmacies you are not formally engaged with." 

Mr Dhaliwal argued that these practices are “unethical” and “undermine trust”.

P3pharmacy tested these claims on the Healthera website earlier today by selecting the directory listing for a nearby pharmacy and clicking on the ‘Order your prescription’ button on that pharmacy’s page.  

After filling in patient details, at the end of the web navigation we were given the option of placing our prescription order at a different pharmacy to the one we originally chose, with no option to pick the original pharmacy.

When approached by P3pharmacy, Healthera CEO Quintus Liu said: “Healthera maintains a national directory of all UK-registered pharmacies to help patients reliably find up-to-date information about local services. 

“The directory works in a similar way to platforms such as Google Business or NHS-linked pharmacy finders - it contains factual information about pharmacies irrespective of whether they partner with us commercially.

“These pages are SEO-indexed and often help improve visibility and accessibility for local patients. Many pharmacies benefit from increased digital presence even if they do not use any Healthera services.

“Our general approach is that listings form part of a factual public-interest directory, so we do not usually remove entries. Doing so would reduce the accuracy of the directory and make it harder for patients to locate the right pharmacy. 

“That said, we absolutely understand that pharmacies may have specific concerns, and we always look at these on a case-by-case basis to ensure we handle them fairly. 

“We are also very happy to update any part of a listing - including opening hours, service descriptions, images or other details - to ensure everything is accurate and reflects the pharmacy’s preferences. 

“If a pharmacy feels any part of the listing could be improved or clarified, we encourage them to contact us directly so we can resolve this promptly.” 

When P3pharmacy requested further clarification, Healthera did not reveal what options are available to contractors who are concerned about their listing potentially redirecting patients to a different pharmacy.