RETAIL


our work with our community and voluntary sector forms an important part of the service that we provide and I regularly undertake building the community Pharmacy Partnership projects. two of the most recent were particularly fulfilling. one involved ‘life choices’ for teenagers and focused on everything from otc abuse to sexual health, and from online awareness to mental health.


another project, meanwhile, was held in conjunction with two older groups of ladies through the derry Well Woman and focused on dementia awareness, and how to cope with dementia - not just as a patient, but also as a carer.


I also regularly provide smoking cessation clinics in community groups and have undertaken talks for groups suffering from mental health issues and from cancer. my pre-reg and I have also both undertaken health checks for a falls prevention programme and are currently drawing up a series of talks and checks for a drop in centre for street drinkers.


We’ve also set up and continue to run several smoking clinics in community centres. this type of work has been part of our attempt to increase our working relationships with several of the community groups in the area, providing them with pharmacy expertise where and when required.


today’s community pharmacy is very much a case of providing the customer with what they want – particularly in light of increased competition from supermarkets and cut-price stores – and these new premises within the shopping centre meant that we were in a much better position to compete on the retail side.


I also firmly believe that, when it comes to health products, customers will always have more faith in a pharmacist or pharmacy staff than perhaps in other retail outlets. that is, I believe, one of our strengths – our one-to-one service that provides information and support.


SErvIcE ProvISIon as a pharmacist, I have always been passionate about providing services to the community, in conjunction with my colleagues in the community and voluntary sector, and the aim this year was to build on this work once again.


I’ve now taken this a step further by designing and conducting training sessions for the staff of community groups in order to ensure they are giving the correct health messages.


SocIaL mEdIa In purely practical terms, it was obvious that we needed to get important health messages out to our patients in addition to showcasing our health and beauty offering. We decided therefore to put a lot of time and effort into the use of social media as a tool for the pharmacy.


as a result, our social media usage went from strength to strength, with our facebook page having over 7500 ‘likes’ and some of our posts reaching140,000 people. Several of our staff members have now been trained on the appropriate use of social media.


SUmmarY through all of our various moves – from the physical, in terms of our


relocation into a shopping centre, and the introduction of consultation rooms – to the increased and expanded range of services provided both within the pharmacy and within the wider community, I feel that the pharmacy has broken new ground.


by working increasingly in the community, for example, we are accessing our hard-to-reach patients and our utilising our expertise in a setting which many find more comfortable. this work then draws their attention to the range of services, which we can provide in- house and so we are attracting more footfall to the pharmacy.


by offering new options, such as cardiac assessments and podiatry, we’re also attracting new patients on a regular basis; patients, who may perhaps never have used the pharmacy before. the results of the changes that we’ve implemented in the pharmacy are tangible.


for a start, we’ve increased our patient base markedly – a fact which


can only be put down to the relocation. We’ve also witnessed an increase of circa 20 per cent in our prescription figures since the move.


With regard to our health and beauty sector, our retail statistics have increased between four and five fold respectively.


Since the move and our increase in service provision, we’ve witnessed a marked increase in our level of mUr activity, as well as appropriate medicine usage reviews, minor ailments and smoking cessation.


I feel our staff on a day-to-day basis set the standard for customer service and care for our patients, constantly going the extra mile to ensure they receive the correct level of care. I also feel that the provision of services that we undertake outside of the physical walls of the dispensary has helped to raise the profile of community pharmacy, both with patients and our colleagues in the community voluntary sector, and other health care professionals.


‘oUr nEW LocatIon and rEfIt dEfInItELY tooK US to a hIghEr LEvEL In oUr abILItY to catEr for thE nEEdS of oUr LocaL PoPULatIon’


PharmacY In focUS - 53


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