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6 EDITOR’S LETTER EDITOR’S LETTER Welcome to another year of Retail Pharmacy. We are excited about returning to print again and looking forward to helping you in every way we can to optimise opportunities and overcome the challenges this year might bring. Adapting to a new world order is important if businesses are to survive now. Covid-19 shook the foundations of society and seems determined to stay with us, at least for a while. Vaccines bring hope, but potent new strains of the virus have emerged, reminding us that the pandemic is far from over. So, what do we do? We adapt: as humans always have done while they evolved. For better or worse, we have been the dominant animal species on planet earth for many thousands of years due to our ability to adapt. This epidemic is no different to earlier contagions and many other challenges our ancestors endured. As with then, we will fight on. Even more so now that we have help through today’s technological advancements, especially when it comes to your business. It is sometimes tempting to just succumb to the doom and gloom, especially after hearing or watching news media, which leaves us with very little to feel positive or even hopeful about. However, having had the opportunity to visit a few coastal towns in northern, central and southern NSW during the holiday season, it was inspiring to see how other small businesses that are not considered essential services have adapted to survive. It is frustrating not to be able to travel freely, but discovering what my own backyard has to offer has been a real treat. Due to the pandemic, I did not even want to travel outside NSW, so a few mini breaks here and there did the trick. Contributing to the survival of small businesses was also wonderful. What I saw in most of these establishments was resilience and a willingness to keep going. These regional businesses are a source of employment for many people in their communities, so, for owners, it is a personal matter to keep trading. So, what did they do to survive? They upped their game. Everywhere I went, the service was first-class: informative, timely and friendly. Food outlets prided themselves on promoting and using fresh local produce, which was evident in the taste and presentation of the food while, of course abiding strictly to Covid safety regulations. These are great examples of survival. Also, teaming up with other local businesses has been key for the survival of many communities. Being considered essential services allowed you and supermarkets to be early adapters of all requirements and procedures that helped ensure the safety of staff and customers while you kept trading. The challenge now is to keep adapting rapidly to frequent changes and requirement of state, territory and federal governments as you battle with the pandemic and keep the economy alive. Adapting to these changes is becoming second nature to all, but especially you, who have implemented and adapted to what is required for everybody’s wellbeing. This is the new way and probably is here to stay for some time. Retail Pharmacy has always tried to promote the fine work you do for your communities in our ‘pharmacy profile’ section and we endeavour to keep doing so. We feel there are a great many examples of excellent community pharmacy at work out there and, if you are one of the many pharmacies providing a great service to people, I would love to hear from you. As mentioned, we are excited to be back in print, and this issue is packed with useful information you can adopt straight away and that can make a positive difference to your business. Finally, although we have always done our utmost to provide you with mistake-free copy with every issue, nevertheless, sometimes they do occur and, for that, I apologise. Due to a publishing error we mistakenly didn’t publish Regional Director ANZ, RB Health Dave Rankine’s testimonial in the ‘Reflection and resolve after a year of extremes’ section in our December issue. Please see page 8 for his kind contribution to RP’s annual report. Managing Editor RETAIL PHARMACY • JAN/FEB 2021