Te Awamutu pharmacy goes hard and early

WINNER

SANDERS PHARMACY

Heeding the words of prime minister Jacinda Ardern, Sanders Pharmacy adopted a go hard and go early response to the COVID-19 pandemic before it reached our shores.

“You could feel it in the air,” says pharmacy owner Gemma Perry. “Unlike Asian countries with SARS, this was not something we had experienced before, and it was not a time to sit around and wait to be told what to do. We had to be proactive.”

The pharmacy’s response started by closing the doors 10 days before the national lockdown and developing a barricaded walk-in zone with Perspex screens to protect staff, their families and patients. The pharmacy also extended opening hours and staff were split into two teams.

Based in Te Awamutu, Sanders Pharmacy serves a population of 20,000 with a staff of 20.

“We could see that this pandemic was blowing up internationally, and we were seeing really interesting data coming out. We were so lucky we had that window of opportunity to learn from what was happening overseas and we didn’t want to waste it,” Mrs Perry says.

The pharmacy shared what they were doing with the sector, and gained feedback that closing their doors would be bad for business. But the focus for management was on the approaching pandemic no one knew anything about, and how they could keep their staff and the community safe. The results speak for themselves. A recent customer survey reflected a very high level of satisfaction, with the pharmacy’s COVID-19 response as one of the reasons. Staff are also appreciative of the care management took to protect them, says Mrs Perry.

The response has also led to innovation in the way the pharmacy now communicates with clients, including texting when scripts are ready for collection and strong customer engagement on its Facebook page. During lockdown the pharmacy started working closely with the neighbouring medical centre to find new ways for the GPs and the pharmacy to help each other.

“COVID-19 has given us the freedom to be creative in how we operate and given us clarity about what’s important in the community and with our staff. It has given us opportunities to move forward, and our team is much stronger because we have been through it together,” Mrs Perry says.

Judges' comments:

Great innovation... strategic direction and leadership through COVID, which was clearly backed up by an engaged and highly capable team. Most will never fully understand the efforts that their community pharmacy team went to during this time

FINALIST

RANOLF PHARMACY

WITH A DRIVE for equity at the heart of its work, the team at Ranolf Pharmacy put its philosophy, of working together to help patients, into action when faced with the COVID-19 pandemic last year.

“Our team really came together and worked so well. We didn’t really grasp the severity of the situation until we split into two teams, but that didn’t stop them,” says owner Charlotte Schimanski.

The Rotorua-based pharmacy serves a population that includes many vulnerable patients. “Equity to excellent healthcare” is at the heart of Ranolf Pharmacy, and this was highlighted in its response to COVID-19 and the lockdown.

To manage the pandemic, the team notified patients when prescriptions were ready for collection, carrying out free delivery to high-risk patients and communicating with elderly patients and anyone who might be lonely at home.

A highlight last year was being named finalist in two categories of the Westpac Rotorua Business Awards.

“Our customers were so generous with their support. That really cemented last year for us,” Mrs Schimanski says.

She adds that it was also wonderful to learn the team was sharing the finalist position in the New Zealand Primary Healthcare Awards with another pharmacy owned by a woman.

“It’s really nice to see two women being finalists for this award.”

Judges' comments:

A truly inspiring pharmacy