Pharmacy in the United Kingdom

Pharmacy in the United Kingdom has been an important part of the National Health Service since it started in 1948. Unlike the rest of the NHS, pharmacies are mostly privately owned. Those in hospitals are now often privately run.
Trade in drugs in the United Kingdom was first regulated by the Guild of Peppers from 1180. The Worshipful Society of Apothecaries was started in 1617. The Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain was founded in 1841. The Pharmacy Act 1868 limited the sale of poisons and dangerous drugs to qualified pharmacists.
Medicine prescribed by a doctor was free at the start of the NHS, but later there were prescription charges, though many people do not have to pay them.
Boots UK Limited, now part of Walgreens Boots Alliance, has 2,232 shops across the United Kingdom with more in Ireland, Thailand and Norway.
Superdrug Stores plc is the second largest pharmacy chain behind Boots.
Lloyds Pharmacy runs 1300, about 10%, UK pharmacies, and employs 17,000 people.