COVID SPECIAL It’s a new world, it’s a new day… Drive-thru proves great success in Ballymena!
Working practices in community pharmacy have changed beyond all recognition. Everyday pharmacy life is now a world of PPE, Perspex and partitions. From the moment that lockdown was mentioned, hammers and nails were banging across the province as contractors looked for new and innovative ways to keep their staff and patients safe…
Safety first in Portglenone
As with all other pharmacists in Northern Ireland, Bannside Pharmacy owner, eoghan O’Brien, had to work out how to ensure social distancing to keep staff and patients safe.
‘At the start of July, we installed a Pharmaself 24 (Ps24) automated prescription collection point in one of our windows,’ eoghan told PiF. ‘This steel-encased robot allows patients to safely and securely collect prescriptions from outside the pharmacy, thereby considerably helping with social distancing.
‘It is designed to be used 24/7 but we power on at 6am and off at 10pm to attract less attention to it from any weekend revellers!
Bannside’s new system is a big hit with the patients!
Safe and speedy – a patient picks up their prescription at Ballee’s drive-thru pharmacy
In Ballymena, Ballee Pharmacy decided to go down the increasingly popular line of a drive-thru operation: one which pharmacist stephen Burns says has proven to be a major hit with the patients!
‘As well as facilitating social distancing, the Ps24 frees up time for the pharmacy team to concentrate on providing a better healthcare service. It takes, on average, four minutes to locate a prescription when a patient enters the pharmacy and only one minute to load the Ps24. All of those three minutes add up!
‘The collection point has already proved to be a big hit with the public as it increases accessibility and convenience, and saves them time too. The best thing about it from my perspective though is that there’s no need to queue when collecting - which is a really major bonus when trying to ensure social distancing!’
'COVID-19 has proven to be a real challenge for all pharmacy owners but I have to say that our staff really stepped up to the plate. From working shifts to increased working hours, it was a brilliant team effort all round. As with all other pharmacies, when lockdown occurred, we had to respond quickly and really think on our feet. Not only did we have to focus on the continuity of service for patients, we also had to ensure the safety of both our staff and our patients. We couldn’t just pull down the shutters and wait for it to go away.
‘We had actually been considering the idea of a drive-thru service for some time before the pandemic, mainly because we were aware that
Urban Pharmacy ‘clears the air’
Trying to ensure that premises are as clean and as safe as possible has created major headaches for every pharmacy owner, but a specially- adapted disinfectant system is proving a success with patients and staff alike!
Initially developed as a security system to disorientate would-be intruders, the Purifog system has now been adapted to disperse disinfectant throughout urban Pharmacy on Belfast’s Dublin Road.
‘The disinfectant,’ says owner Cliff Mcelhinney, ‘creates a fog and is
sprayed over everything in the pharmacy. The disinfectant is both anti-bacterial and anti-viral and meets World Health Organisation standards, so it’s giving us peace of mind that we’re keeping our patients, customers and staff as safe as possible.
‘The disinfectant flows over everything on the shelves and keeps the disinfectant level on the products for up to 17 days. It’s also very convenient since we only have to fire the system up once a week. You only actually see the residue on the
Perspex screens, but we’re still wiping items like the tills etc.
‘The system has definitely instilled confidence in the staff. We have quite a large retail section in the pharmacy and many of the staff were on furlough during lockdown. We’re just beginning to bring them back in now and obviously some are a little nervous. seeing the system in action and understanding what it’s doing is definitely making the staff feel more secure. It’s giving customers confidence as well!’
PHARMACY IN FOCus - 9
60 per cent of our patients drive to the pharmacy. We had also become increasingly aware of the number of patients, who were arriving in cars and leaving their children in the car, and of how much effort it was taking a lot of our elderly patients simply to come and get their prescriptions. The arrival of COVID- 19 simply brought the installation of the drive-thru forward.
‘By installing the drive-thru, we were able to prevent people from getting out of their cars and to ensure social distancing at all times. ‘The patients simply drive through – similar to the Macdonalds system. They speak to a staff member through the intercom and then collect their script or other items at the hatch.
‘To date, the drive-thru has proved extremely popular and, in fact, many of our patients have asked us to keep it even when the threat posed by COVID-19 eventually – hopefully – leaves us.’
Urban Pharmacy keeps it super clean
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