Creating a patient centred approach to community pharmacy technology

Pharmacy services are undergoing an evolution from the traditional dispensing model towards a more person centred approach to patient care.

Community pharmacists already play a much bigger role in the wider healthcare system.

And with Advanced Services, more responsibility for clinical treatments, and increasing involvement in long-term condition management, pharmacies are quickly becoming a hub for patient care.

This blog examines how pharmacies are creating a more patient centred approach to their operations, and what’s needed to make these a go-to service in the minds of patients.

Before you get into the blog, watch episode one of our new docuseries "The Game Changers of Community Pharmacy" by clicking the image below

Raising awareness of services

Although pharmacies are still primarily known for prescriptions and dispensing medications, there is a rising public awareness of some additional services.

An Ipsos poll in 2023 found that people are becoming increasingly expectant that they’ll be able to access services outside of dispensing medications. Among the most common are:

• Blood pressure monitoring (71% expect to get this from their community pharmacy)
• Weight management advice (52% expect this from a pharmacy)
• Stop smoking services (59% expect this from a pharmacy)

However, while patients seem more expectant of additional services, the same report found that patients aren’t actually using them at the same levels.

This potentially outlines a lack of awareness of what services are available to access from a pharmacy, or shows that patients’ first instinct is still to rely on GP services as the first port of call.

In our docuseries, Game Changers of Community Pharmacy, this lack of awareness was raised by pharmacist Gurminder Singh who pointed out that pharmacists themselves must be better at promoting services, but also highlighted an NHS wide push was needed to promote pharmacies.

In the episode Gurminder comments: “Everything’s going a lot more digital now so you almost have to be a digital marketing expert, you have to know about websites and learn about search engine optimisation, pay per click on Google, you have to know how to start doing social media and try to be a bit different as a pharmacy [to promote services].”

He added: “What’s everyone’s first thought when they wake up and their ear is hurting or they’ve got a sore throat? They’re going to call the doctor because it’s quite an acute thing but it’s something that comes on quite quickly and most peoples’ thought straight away is to call the doctors at that 8am window. 

“Receptionists play a role in recognising the new minor ailments [that pharmacists can treat] and refer the patient onto the pharmacy.”

Faster access to healthcare

The average wait time for a GP appointment in the UK is currently 10 days, although some patients are left waiting for at least four weeks for an appointment.

It’s no secret that GPs and the NHS as a whole are under strain from longer wait lists.

Part of the problem is that patients continue to book appointments with a GP that could be dealt with by a pharmacy.

Around 30 million GP appointments could have been dealt with by a pharmacist every year, according to data from NHS England.

While patients are waiting longer to see GPs, going to a pharmacy could dramatically decrease wait times for getting treatments for minor ailments such as:

• Coughs
• Colds
• Sore throats
• Ear infections

In some instances, patients reported being seen by pharmacists using the Pharmacy First services in as little as 1 hour.

Patient support for self care

Empowering patients to take more control of their own health is a central theme of new pharmacy clinical services, as the NHS as a whole tries to move towards a more preventative model of healthcare.

Community pharmacies have already played a significant role in this, being available to advise patients on medications and treatments.

But this is now expanding into clinical services, and pharmacists can now help patients manage a wider range of long-term illnesses, like:

• Asthma
• Diabetes
• Heart conditions
• High blood pressure

It’s highly anticipated that pharmacists will continue to play an ever increasing role in patient care - and particularly preventative health care.

Something Gurminder says he’s already tried to adapt to in order to provide better care and clinical services.

“I’ve probably put more education into myself in the sense of doing more clinical training and taking things to a more broader level,” he said.

“If patients want to take their health into their own hands at their own costs then making it affordable for them but making it accessible for them as well is important.

“From there they can gauge their own body and what they need to change in their diet, health and lifestyle.”

Using technology for proactive care and services

For community pharmacists, it’s one thing to be able to offer services, it’s another to target the right patients to increase uptake.

One key service pharmacies are now offering is the New Medicine Service (NMS).

NMS applies to any patient who is prescribed medication to treat a long-term condition for the first time, allowing them to get extra help and advice from their pharmacist on how to safely use the medication.

Smart pharmacy services systems are already helping pharmacists identify patients eligible for NMS, allowing pharmacists to become more proactive in signing patients up for services to better manage new medicines.

Gurminder states this has already proven invaluable at his own pharmacy, saying:

“There’s a big help at the moment with New Medicine Service in that it identifies patients who may be eligible [for the service] then it can target those patients. The label automatically comes from the dispenser, you can stick it on the bags and identify that patient when they come in and ask them if they’d like us to do the New Medicine Service with them and start that process.”

Creating a clinical future for pharmacists

As Gurminder points out, those clinging to the old pharmacy model aren’t going to survive.

Pharmacy services are adapting to become more clinically focussed, with pharmacies reimagining how they work and what they’re able to provide patients, outside of the traditional - and largely transactional - dispensing model.

Some of this will require some out of the box thinking.

Gurminder, for example, has successfully introduced an IV clinic that is proving hugely popular for patients, and profitable for his family’s business.

But at its core, it’s about rethinking pharmacy services as a key part of community healthcare, with patients at the centre benefiting from more easily accessible services and advice not only in seeking treatment for conditions, but getting advice to take their health into their own hands.

Want to see how some of this is working in real life?

Watch our first episode of the Game Changers series - The Visionary - and see behind the scenes of Gurminder Singh’s mission to transform an already successful family pharmacy business into a clinical hub for new patient services.

Click here to watch the video.