Page 19 - Retail Pharmacy March 2021

Tackling the big changes With these great rewards, however, have come major challenges, and the acknowledgements clearly have been hard earned. Touching on the biggest way that Covid-19 changed the way Illawong DDS now operates, Ms Arronis said: “The Covid-19 pandemic enhanced our team’s communication skills and in- store efficiencies. “We became more open-minded to different customer transactional methods, such as online orders, home deliveries and order collections by patients in the car park, which we hadn’t significantly considered previously. “Due to national government health advice, our store implemented various permanent hygiene practices in-store to ensure Covid-safe status, including sneeze guards at the dispensary and till counters, social distancing floor cues, hand sanitiser stations, and in-store customer limitations based on floor space, as well as availability of masks for staff and regular cleaning of surfaces and equipment.” Ms Arronis speaks highly of her team’s efforts in dealing with the sudden changes that Covid-19 forced on the store. “We honestly were doing our best daily to reassure each other and our anxious customers, who were overwhelmed with all the information circulating in the media,” she said. The team naturally felt great pressure to keep the community safe and were able to do so, fortunately, without abuse or aggression from customers. To address product shortages, Ms Arronis says the pharmacy created extensive waiting lists of customers and their contact details. “A similar procedure was adopted for the 2020 influenza pharmacist vaccination season,” she said. “Contrary to our walk-in/no-appointment-required protocol of previous years, we adopted an appointment system for our in-store vaccinations to ensure we were able to abide by the social distancing and in-store customer limitations as implemented by NSW Health guidelines.” As mentioned in the Fast Facts section, Illawong DDS provides a wide range of professional services. Of these, Ms Arronis says, undoubtedly the most popular is its yearly in-store pharmacist administered flu vaccination program. “We’re able to connect and engage with our potential patients via various communication channels including word of mouth, through promotion to local retailers and schools, through targeted MedAdvisor appointment prompts, and online through engaging Facebook posts on our store’s page and in local community groups,” she said. “Our pharmacists conducted more than 700 vaccinations in-store during 2020, which was monumental growth for us compared with previous years.” 2021: the ‘waiting game’ Ms Arronis outlines what she believes the world of pharmacy will look like throughout 2021. “Essentially, it’ll be a waiting game to see how patients respond to the availability of the Covid-19 vaccine through various channels and thereby influence its potential uptake,” she said. “A mammoth challenge lies ahead for Australia in the implementation of the vaccines, which creates an exciting “In 2021, community pharmacy will continue to highlight the significance and e sentiality of its accessible nature.” opportunity for community pharmacists to assist in their administration and provide health education and information to consumers. “It will also be interesting to see how the flu vaccination season evolves in conjunction with the Covid vaccination processes to be implemented in the community.” Ms Arronis also expects increased uptake of “electronic scripts with the token model, as additional doctors and patients become more comfortable with its benefits and convenience”. “Hopefully, this will be further enhanced with the development of active script lists to come later in the year. “Overall, in 2021, community pharmacy will continue to highlight the significance and essentiality of its accessible nature.” Regarding prospects for Illawong DDS in 2021, Ms Arronis says the team is especially excited about its mission to “engage more customers in our DAA packing services, to optimise their medication-taking abilities. “We’d also love to recommence community engagement activities, as pre-Covid, we often did ‘Market Day’ events and liaised with local sporting groups and Assistance Dogs Australia,” she said. “As an accredited pharmacist, I’m also looking forward to conducting more HMRs in person with patients, since this proved difficult in 2020 due to the lockdowns and home visitation restrictions that were in place.” PHARMACY PROFILE 17 RETAIL PHARMACY • MAR 2021