DISPENSING, ONCE THE RELIABLE HEARTBEAT OF COMMUNITY PHARMACY, HAD BECOME A SLOW BLEED
These are not sales pitches. They are empathetic, open conversations designed to educate.
Too often, we treat these moments as routine transactions rather than what they truly are, powerful touchpoints to build awareness, improve access and grow funded clinical services. Pharmacy First pays £15 per consultation plus medicine reimbursement, yet many of these opportunities slip by. Why? Because we are busy. We are used to routine. We are not always confident in steering the conversation toward services.
It is not about adding to your workload, it’s about making what you are already doing more purposeful.
From dispensing drain to service- drive growth Ken, an independent pharmacy owner with an average monthly dispensing volume of 18,000 scripts, found himself facing a harsh reality; one many pharmacy owners across Scotland will recognise. His business was in the red.
Dispensing, once the reliable heartbeat of community pharmacy, had become a slow bleed. With rising costs, stagnant fees and volatile drug prices, he was losing money on every script.
Ken could have focused on everything out of his control such as NHS reimbursement or the fluctuating drug tariff prices. But instead, he chose to focus on what was in his control: how he prioritised his team’s time and energy.
Ken came to the realisation that if dispensing could not sustain the business, services might. It was time to move from a dispensing-centric model to a service-led strategy. He decided to begin with Pharmacy First.
In August 2024, he joined the ReviveRx Coaching Programme, with the goal of reshaping his pharmacy around a more sustainable model: clinical services.
At the time, his pharmacy was delivering around 106 Pharmacy First consultations a month. Through targeted training, mindset shifts and a
renewed approach to patient engagement, Ken and his team transformed how they worked.
Less than 6 months later, Ken’s pharmacy now delivers an average of 247 consultations per month, a 133% increase. But the impact has gone far beyond the numbers. The team is more confident. Patients are more informed. The business has re-established a path towards stability and growth.
Ken and his pharmacy team achieved growth of Pharmacy first by moving from transactional to purposeful patient interactions.
How the team maximised impact 1. A mindset shift: From autopilot to attentive The first step was observation, like many pharmacies, Ken’s team were doing a great job, but often in default mode. Patient interactions were functional and compliant, but brief. Conversations ended at the counter.
Opportunities to inform or educate slipped by unnoticed. Ken and his team recognised that these quick-fire interactions were missed moments that could have opened doors to funded services, better care and stronger relationships.
By moving from autopilot to a more attentive mindset, the team began treating every conversation as a chance to add value.
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KEN AND HIS PHARMACY TEAM ACHIEVED GROWTH OF PHARMACY FIRST BY MOVING FROM TRANSACTIONAL TO PURPOSEFUL PATIENT INTERACTIONS
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