Duality Healthcare & Gordons Chemists

We've launched a strategic partnership with Northern Ireland-based Duality Healthcare, to roll out an expanded suite of face to face and virtual GP services in selected branches of Gordons Chemists.

Our partnership represents a major step forward in improving access to primary care across Northern Ireland. It enables Duality Healthcare to deliver care directly through high street pharmacy locations - combining local accessibility with a broader range of clinical options.

Founded in 2017, Duality Healthcare has grown into one of Northern Ireland’s leading private GP and diagnostic providers. This collaboration gives Duality an opportunity to offer seamless, high quality and convenient healthcare to communities across Northern Ireland, by bringing GP access to the High Street. 

As part of the partnership, patients who visit one of our participating branches will be able to book same-day GP appointments - either virtually or in person.

The first face-to-face clinic opens in our pharmacy on Waterloo Place in Derry/Londonderry, in late 2025. Here, Duality will offer a full range of in-person GP consultations within a private consultation room inside the pharmacy - giving our patients quick and convenient access to clinical care, without needing to travel to a standalone GP facility.

Alongside the Derry/Londonderry clinic, Duality will also open virtual GP hubs inside our stores in Kilkeel, Lisburn, Enniskillen and Newtownabbey (Rathcoole) as the first stage of a province-wide rollout.

These hubs will allow patients to access private virtual consultations with a Duality clinician. If required, prescriptions issued during the appointment can be made immediately available for collection at the Gordons Chemists counter. This hybrid approach provides our patients with flexible routes to care - by being able to access these services around work, family and everyday life.

Responding to Primary Care Pressures

Our partnership comes at a time when primary care services across the UK continue to experience significant pressure. Patients often face longer waiting times and fewer available GP appointments. By integrating GP access directly within our community-based pharmacies, Duality Healthcare are aiming to ease pressure on GP practices, increase convenience for our patients and support our pharmacy teams in delivering a wider range of clinical support.

Pharmacy teams will work closely with Duality clinicians to assist with triage, diagnostics, prescribing, and continuity of care.

Strengthening the Role of Community Pharmacy

For us, the partnership marks a clear shift toward a more clinically focused model of pharmacy. During our 45 years in business we've positioned patient care at the very centre of everything we do, and we're pleased that we will now be able to offer a broader clinical service that extends well beyond traditional dispensing. Our pharmacy staff will play a key role by welcoming patients, providing point of care support, facilitating virtual and in-person consultations, and ensuring smooth transitions between pharmacy-led advice and GP-led treatment.

Robert Gordon (our Managing Director): “Our aim is to bring patients the best of both worlds - the accessibility of the high street pharmacy and the clinical expertise of a GP practice. Our partnership with Duality now allows us to achieve that vision.”

What This Means for Patients and Pharmacy Teams

Our patients can benefit from faster access to GP care - whether that be through a face-to-face or via a virtual appointment - delivered within a familiar community pharmacy setting. Our pharmacy teams will gain new opportunities to collaborate with GPs, develop additional clinical skills, and contribute more actively to preventative healthcare and ongoing patient management.

Looking Ahead

As the partnership expands across Northern Ireland, further developments are expected, including additional clinic sites, enhanced digital consultation pathways and closer integration between our pharmacy teams and Duality Healthcare clinicians.

The collaboration demonstrates how innovative partnerships can modernise primary care access and strengthen the role of community pharmacy within local health systems.