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TECHNOLOGY


AUTOMATION AND ROBOTIC TECHNOLOGY ARE CONSTANTLY CHANGING THE LANDSCAPE OF COMMUNITY PHARMACY OPERATION. INCREASINGLY, PATIENTS ARE WALKING INTO PHARMACIES TO BE FACED WITH ROBOTIC DISPENSERS, WHICH ARE TIED TOGETHER WITH ROBUST INTEGRATED SOFTWARE SYSTEMS.


AUTOMATION INCREASINGLY INTEGRATED


T


here’s no doubt that, in order to survive and prosper in community pharmacy today, contractors need to introduce a high degree of integrated automation. One area in which this is needed is in the sheer volume of patients who take a multiplicity of drugs.


Across Scotland – and indeed the UK – members of the pharmacy team are increasingly being tasked with the preparation of medicines dosage systems: a time-consuming task. At a time when Scottish community pharmacists are being asked to provide an increasingly clinical function, many are finding their time – and their staff’s time – taken up with this non-cost effective task.


As a result, many pharmacies are now 38 - SCOTTISH PHARMACIST


introducing systems, which can fill, label and automatically store MDS.


Over a period of time, Nadine Miller, Operations Manager at Dickson Chemist, had noticed that pharmacy managers were struggling to fill the number mediboxes that each of the pharmacies was dealing with.


‘The managers were telling us that the number of MDS boxes was constantly growing,’ Nadine told SP, ‘and it was obvious that, in light of the ageing population, the need for them was just getting bigger.


‘We decided that we needed a new system. While it was obvious that major financial output would be needed, we knew that it was required if we were going to be able


to meet this need and so we began to research for the future. Stephen had been in Canada and had seen the Synmed system, so he and I went to the Pharmacy Show and saw it in operation.


‘While we were initially concerned about operational difficulties, I have to say that, when we got involved with Synmed, everything went like clockwork.


‘For a start, the training – which lasted a week – was absolutely fantastic. Throughout the installation, Synmed was on hand throughout the whole process. Then, once the system was up and running, the support network was there at all times if anything went wrong. The turnaround was a lot quicker than we had anticipated.


‘The response from the patients has also been terrific. The prescription comes in as usual and is sent electronically to Synmed. The files are then sent to the robot, which produces the boxes, which are then boxed up, sealed and checked. They are then picked up by a driver from each store and twelve are delivered each day to each branch. The patients know that the prescriptions are still at the branch and this gives them a feeling of security.


‘There is no doubt that the installation of the new system has taken the pressure off the managers. We’re now able to produce 60 boxes a day per branch – giving us an incredible 300 MDS boxes a week per branch: almost 1000 a week in total across the group.


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