NPA 2007 Pharmacy Planning Print E-mail
Written by Neil Williamson and Kathy Chesterman   
NPA Pharmacy Planning has seen some major, prestigious projects this year as pharmacists seize new contract opportunities with enthusiasm. But at the same time we’re helping smaller pharmacies still concerned about the best way to tackle consultation areas. We now find we’re working at three levels. At the top end, developing the upmarket shop to meet the needs of the community, we’ve been involved in completely new build health centres and LIFT projects. On a slightly less grand scale, we’ve been doing extensive refurbishments where pharmacists have wanted additional consultancy and treatment rooms. But we’ve also created new opportunities for small pharmacies looking for nothing more than a cost-efficient smartening-up.

For clients with limited budgets we’ve negotiated with a supplier a special package that keeps refitting costs to a minimum while maintaining high quality. This set-price NPA-branded system will enable pharmacists to have a clinical, professional-looking dispensary in a choice of colours and finishes. All components comply with the standards required by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.

We expected many pharmacies to install consultation areas over the past year, but we have been surprised at the numbers who have gone for more extensive refurbishments. The new contract has inspired them to look to the future and develop new services. But there are less profitable pharmacies in lower social areas that are still thinking about what to do. We maintain that in these locations there may be a more pressing need to create health awareness and provide private spaces in which the pharmacist and patient can sit down to talk about medicines use reviews (MURs), lifestyle issues such as smoking cessation, Emergency Hormonal Contraception (EHC) and diet. It is here that our new set-price branded system will be of particular benefit.

The aim with today’s refits is to wake up the public to the fact that pharmacies are for health consultations. Customers have to get away from the old-fashioned idea that you just go to a pharmacy to collect a prescription. If customers see suitable facilities with professional ambience, they will use them. The financial benefits this will bring to your business will be increased OTC and prescription turnover. But customers won’t be comfortable asking questions in an area that doesn’t look professional and isn’t private.

Supermarkets have changed shopping habits dramatically, with their ‘pile it high, sell it cheap’ philosophy. Yet while they may provide every incentive for people to shop there – competitive prices, free parking, buses to and from the doorstep – the ethos for health is that it should be on a one-to-one basis in a relaxed atmosphere. It’s here that pharmacies have the upper hand.

Because shopping habits have changed, many pharmacists’ OTC business has declined and there’s a need for a different stimulus to encourage more people to go into pharmacies.

One challenging project over the past year was at Fulham Pharmacy in London. The pharmacist wanted to extend out the back and knock down a considerable number of internal walls to create more space. The main problem was no rear access – all the building work had to go in and out from the front, as well as customers. At one stage, for health and safety reasons, we had to build a tunnel for patients to access the dispensary while the builders worked above. Then we had to change the whole pharmacy around and bring the dispensary to the front while the builders worked at the back.

The project was difficult to plan, with the actual building and shop fit taking about a year to complete. Because of the difficult nature of the work, we had all kinds of problems with structural engineering and planning, but the builders were very good and the end result seems to have been a great success.

Did the pharmacist think it was worth the hassle? He certainly did! His front shop turnover and prescription business improved, and he now has a pleasant environment in which to talk through health issues with customers, who love it.

Another flagship pharmacy was Shaftesbury Pharmacy in South Harrow, London. The owners, Lila and Deepak Thakerar, are shining examples of how pharmacy can embrace the challenges of the new contract. They have tackled changing shopping habits head-on by providing an excellent service that is not available from supermarkets. Central to this is a new consulting room and a private area for treatment of drug misusers.

The NPA Planning team also helped with a smoking cessation promotion, while the Education and Training Department provided staff with advice and resources. The pharmacy won the Pharmacy Business magazine Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2005, which recognises excellence in the independent community pharmacy sector.

Joint ventures


Another trend is that pharmacists are becoming more interested in joint ventures with GPs in health centres and clinics, particularly in new build. A pitfall here is that pharmacies tend to be left out of the equation until the last minute. The developers, architects and GPs suddenly find they have enough space for a pharmacy and NPA Planning is presented with a bare shell to fit out. But in the end we achieve a good working agreement and it all comes together.

One project we are working on is a health centre with no doctors – it has a pharmacy and rooms for other healthcare consultants such as nurses and chiropodists – although it is expected that eventually some GPs will move in.

It’s all very well us showing glossy pictures of pharmacies investing a lot of money in refurbishments. The over-riding factor is that you need to spend the right amount of money for the right location. Your catchment area has a finite number of customers and this will dictate what you should spend, both to keep these customers and to encourage them to visit more often by providing more services. It’s a question of balance: an upmarket bells and whistles approach is unnecessary in some areas, but if you’re moving into state-of-the-art LIFT premises with GPs and other health professionals, you do want to reflect your professional image.

The latest look


The ‘less is more’ continental design philosophy is still popular for refits. The contemporary look uses wood finishes (particularly light ash), chrome and glass. Pharmacies that rely mostly on prescription business can be more clinical in appearance, but if you have good OTC sales you need the right merchandising to set off the products. Good lighting is absolutely essential – too many pharmacies run on just one light bulb!

We’re now investigating how we might merge different environments. There’s no reason why we can’t combine pharmacies with other outlets, such as bookshops and coffee shops. The leisure industry is growing, and people could have coffee while browsing through, buying or borrowing health books. Customers could then take an interest in health in an even more relaxed manner.

One pharmacy we recently helped with a refit has a room for evening seminars on subjects ranging from allergy to colour co-ordination in make-up. Twenty or so people come to have a glass of wine and listen to a guest speaker.

Instead of renting out upstairs flats, some pharmacies are converting them into treatment rooms for hire to other professionals. Another good combination – which worked well in the past – is to combine pharmacies with optometrists. The possibilities are endless.

So the future looks bright. In general, pharmacies have a good attitude towards making their pharmacies look clean, uncluttered and professional but welcoming. We can offer a hand-holding exercise and support them in as many ways as we can on their journey to a better environment for themselves and their customers.
 
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