In a report issued last September, the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) painted a very grim picture of the NHS as an organisation “struggling to cope under the increasing pressure of rising demand and inadequate funding, with resulting workforce pressures threatening patient safety’.  Aside from training more doctors and setting more realistic targets for efficiency [...]

Despite fierce opposition from MPs, contractors and the public, a parliamentary debate in November finally ended with a vote in favour of pharmacy funding cuts. From 1st December 2016, community pharmacies now face revised funding arrangements. The new contract includes a 4% reduction in the total sum of pharmacy funding for contractors in 2016/17. As [...]

Running an effective pharmacy, like all businesses, requires a good understanding of data. From knowing your most profitable OTC offering to determining the most appropriate patient to approach regarding the winter flu jab, information is key when it comes to driving revenues. Here are three sources of data within your pharmacy that can make significant [...]

Read any industry publication and it’s clear that the onus is on pharmacists to deliver excellence in customer service, yet can the same be held true for those who serve pharmacies? Just as the future of community pharmacy hinges on customer retention, so too does the success of the system supplier.  In a previous blog [...]

Community pharmacist contractors have welcomed the recent news that the proposed funding cuts to the sector are to be delayed. Pharmacy Minister David Mowat has confirmed that plans to implement a 6% cut to community pharmacy funding from October are currently on hold, pending further review. In his speech at the RPS annual conference, Mowat [...]

At a time when proposed funding cuts and changing business models are taking their toll, the ability to retain patients is key to ensuring a successful future for many community pharmacists. In a  report on the future of community pharmacy in the UK, market research company A.T Kearney said “Today’s health consumer wants it all. [...]

While excellent customer service and operational efficiencies are essential, they aren’t the only factors that influence a pharmacy’s business performance. One area that is often overlooked is the physical appearance of the retail space -the layout and the way products are displayed. From cluttered window displays to product categories that are difficult to navigate, the [...]

The PMR system is the cornerstone of any pharmacy. Controlling the ability to dispense items safely and in compliance with NHS procedures and to log reimbursement claims, a major outage can have significant implications both on customer satisfaction and business performance. Not only does this sort of outage result in an immediate inability to dispense, [...]