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48 CPD ACTIVITY FROM PAGE 47 such as patient ages, vaccinations able to be delivered, applicable pharmacy areas suitable to be used, advertising caveats, etc. It’s important to adopt change management strategies to ensure your staff are supportive, knowledgeable and efficient in delivering your vaccination strategy. This becomes even more relevant this year given the significant increase in vaccination volume that pharmacy will potentially experience. Change management strategies include:6 • Engage staff during the planning phase. • Involve staff in changes that affect them. • Help your staff manage loss/change/uncertainty. • Choose a diverse project team. • Stay focused on the outcome. • Identify attitude barriers early. • Define the tasks well. • Build a culture of continuous improvement. Communicating is difficult in times of change, and one-on-one catch-ups with key staff are especially valuable. In fact, Google’s ‘Project Oxygen’ on good management determined that one-on-one catch-ups are a key tool for a manager – perceived to be both more effective and more productive in terms of team output and success.7 The more your staff understand and accept the need for business change, the more positively they will respond to the change process. Structured communications with the pharmacy team and sub- project groups, such as a vaccination project team, are important to maximise successful outcomes. Workflow Developing a workflow for vaccinations is one of the best ways to prepare your team. Ensuring every staff member understands the workflow, even those who wouldn’t typically be involved in the process of administering a vaccination, is an important step for success. Best workflow will depend on your pharmacy’s layout, staffing levels, vaccination volume and whether you’re running a bulk clinic. Take the time to review your existing process and see where it can be streamlined further, both for staff ease and efficiency, and also for the patient experience. Below are examples of considerations that a four-step process for vaccinating may incorporate. Pharmacies should focus on each step and ‘flesh out’ the steps in a manner that suits their pharmacy. Ensure your process meets the appropriate legislation, regulations and practice standards. Step 1: Engage the customer (all staff members) • This involves promotional activities and local area marketing to create awareness around your services. • Communicating availability to customers. • Assisting customers to book in for the service. • Receiving customers in accordance with your pharmacy’s preferred workflow when they arrive for their appointment (or present for a vaccination without a booking). Step 2: Patient set-up (trained vaccination supporting staff) • Set up the patient in the waiting area ready for the pharmacist immuniser. Provide the relevant information for the patient to read and ensure the pre-questionnaire and consent forms are completed. • Notify the pharmacist immuniser that their patient is waiting. • Follow a process that allows for efficient dispensing of the vaccination. Step 3: Service provision (accredited pharmacist immuniser) • The pharmacist immuniser administers the vaccination as per legislative guidelines and protocols. This includes all the relevant clinical and necessary administrative processes, such as checking patient vaccination history, checking the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR), myHealthRecord, assessing appropriateness of vaccination, etc. • Take the opportunity to discuss any other health or medication related considerations or offer any relevant services (such as booking in a MedsCheck). • Ensure documentation, reporting and record keeping requirements are met (such as AIR recording and patient record). • Ask the patient to wait for the post- vaccination monitoring period (ensure a waiver and release form is signed if they choose not to wait), and hand over to a supporting team member. • Queensland pharmacist vaccination standards state that if social distancing requirements render it impractical for the patient to wait in-store, the pharmacist can ask patients to wait outside, or ask them to contact the pharmacy if they have an acute reaction after receiving the vaccine.8 Step 4: Monitoring and checkout (trained vaccination supporting staff) • Monitor patients post-vaccination and facilitate the waiting period. • Take the opportunity to provide information and offers as relevant and appropriate – eg, If the patient doesn’t already have your app, consider taking the opportunity to set them up and show them how to use it (if they’re interested). Setting targets This is an important part of the process of management. You may want to consider a few targets and set them for your pharmacy: • Number of patients vaccinated. • New partnerships with local businesses. • Number of other relevant pharmacy services delivered. • Specific products sold related to cold and flu during a key promotional period. RETAIL PHARMACY • MAY 2021