Page 25 - Demo

PHARMACY PROFILE 23 FAST FACTS Name: Pharmacists Jono Gill and Nam Nguyen. How long have you been a pharmacist? We’ve both been pharmacists for eight years. How long have you operated at your current pharmacy? Two years. Does your pharmacy offer professional services? If so, which ones? Blood pressure services, diabetes risk assessment and management, home medication reviews, quit-smoking support, vaccination services and sleep apnoea services. What kind of customers does your pharmacy attract? We’re in a shopping centre with high foot traffic, so we’re always seeing new faces. From regulars who have come to the store for years, to young people and families who have recently bought or are renting in the area. What size is the pharmacy? 225sqm. What is the most successful OTC category in your pharmacy and why? The medicinal range, which includes products for pain relief, cough, cold and flu, hay fever and allergy symptoms. Describe your day-to-day challenges and how you overcome them. Looking for ways to improve our business and how we can offer our services differently. We’re always brainstorming new ideas and processes to better ourselves and our store. Also, retaining regular customers. With so much choice, people can come to us one day and go somewhere else the next for their health advice. To overcome this, we focus our attention on investing in and training our staff so that they feel equipped to offer the best possible advice and customer service, which helps to keep people coming back, time and time again. What has been your most satisfying moment in the pharmacy? We’re all about giving back to our community and pride ourselves on being able to have a chat to anyone. It’s great to see our customers leave with a smile after having a positive experience with us. We also love to hear feedback from regular customers who have seen the difference we’ve made to the store since we’ve owned the business. “Rules about PPE in healthcare settings and store capacity restrictions may affect how people shop, but we’ll continue to try and make this as seamless as possible.” A shining light through 2020 has been the staff effort at Amcal Pharmacy St Clair. “We couldn’t be happier with how our team has worked together throughout 2020. “It’s been so rewarding to see them grow and work towards the same goal, especially during the height of the pandemic. Our team immediately stepped up, working extended hours on the frontline with no hesitation, to help each other and our customers as much as possible.” Speaking more so on a personal level, both pharmacists agree: “A career highlight for us both is building a great relationship with our business partners and having the opportunity to purchase our store with them two years ago. “We’re excited to finally have the store refitted, to reinvest in our business to prepare for whatever comes next. As a business of only two years, we’re always growing. Our store highlight is that every week we hit a new milestone: in March we were named in the top 10 of Sigma branded stores in Australia for increase of sales from previous years.” The whole pharmacy industry has had to evolve due to the events that occurred throughout 2020, which is something that both Mr Gill and Mr Nguyen are more than prepared to do. “We’re trying to future-proof our store in a couple of ways,” they said. “We’ve invested in an innovative shop fit, which is centred around a front dispensing pharmacist. This includes a robotic dispensing Consis machine to help us process an increasing volume of prescriptions, a Medspo terminal for packing, and a tablet to allow for an electronic prescription concierge service on the pharmacy floor. “All this along with a purpose-built consulting room for our ever-expanding professional services. “We hope to grow our customer base and our footprint in the local community.” RETAIL PHARMACY • JAN/FEB 2021