Innovation in Community Pharmacy Practice
Laura Moore and Aubrey Penney, Maghaberry Pharmacy are presented with their award by Helen Taylor, Operations Manager, McLernons and Peter Rice, Chair UCA-NI Chair
MAGHABERRY PHARMACY Maghaberry
M
aghaberry Pharmacy is situated in a rural area, serving the village population and rural dwellings beyond. With no
GP practice in the village, the pharmacy collects from the five surgeries that encircle the village – Lisburn, Aghalee, Crumlin/Glenavy, Moira and Hillsborough.
Delivery to patients is crucial to them obtaining their medication as many do not have access to a car and are housebound. For some, in isolated rural dwellings, such as farmhouses situated on lesser travelled roads, the pharmacy’s logistics operator, Aubrey Penney can be the only person they see in a day.
The objectives of this innovation were primarily the environmental and health improvements that cycling for prescription collection and delivery
could achieve for the pharmacy team and cost reduction in petrol and wear and tear on the delivery car for the business.
The idea was born from the pharmacy team’s years of cycling for charity, including Lap the Lough in 2009 for the Pretty in Pink Breast Cancer NI Charity and around the village, promoting the Cycle Touring Club message of Five miles to Fabulous in subsequent years for a variety of other charities. At the annual team business meeting of 2011, the idea of cycling for the pharmacy services was first discussed (the Company secretary at that time was a well-known cycle campaigner). An idea was born.
At first, the pharmacy started with pedal bikes, doing very local journeys around the village but Aubrey was competitive, out-cycling everyone else
both in terms of speed and distance. even the young pharmacists found it difficult to match his pace! However, when Aubrey started to do ALL the deliveries on the pedal bike, time became a serious factor, and something different had to be done.
The response from the community at large was extremely positive, but unfortunately, while Aubrey enjoyed the cycling and was benefiting from improved health and mental well-being, the hills around Maghaberry resulted in a slow, tiring and time-inefficient collection and delivery system.
Analysis of Aubrey’s mileage showed that, on average, he travelled more than 50 miles a day five days a week for short pharmacy deliveries, with a conservative estimate of petrol cost of over £30 per week. Initially, the pharmacy team
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