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Putting pharmacy on the map

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Putting pharmacy on the map

With its focus on meeting customer needs and testing out innovative ideas, the new LloydsPharmacy branch in New Square, West Bromwich, demonstrates how Celesio’s European Pharmacy Network is putting pharmacy on the map. Charlotte Rixon reports

The LloydsPharmacy in West Bromwich’s New Square Shopping Centre opened in July 2014, joining Celesio’s growing European Pharmacy Network (EPN), which currently includes 322 community pharmacies across Great Britain, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Belgium and Ireland.

The pharmacy has retained its customer base as well as increasing footfall since relocating from its original premises on West Bromwich high street – and thanks to its cutting-edge design and open plan dispensary it provides a much-improved working environment for the team. “Our old store was in need of updating, so it is great to have a modern, fresh environment that is designed to meet the needs of today’s patients and customers,” says branch manager, Munazza Waseem.

“Customers can’t believe the change and so many of them have come up to me to comment on it. It is a pleasure to work here.” Like other EPN branches, LloydsPharmacy New Square aims to offer customers and patients a unique experience, using the latest services and tools to help them make informed healthcare decisions, while its front-of-shop area has a strong focus on the key categories of pain relief and skincare, as well as a section dedicated to Betterlife – LloydsPharmacy’s independent living range.

Key focus

The pharmacy has a skin bay located near the entrance where customers can receive a free skincare consultation from a trained member of staff using a digital skin analyser (see right) and expert advice on a wide range of products, from everyday moisturisers to products designed to complement prescription items for dermatological conditions.

“Two-thirds of women believe that they have a skin problem – and people trust skincare advice from a pharmacy,” explains Nigel Swift, marketing and sales director, Celesio UK.

The pain relief category is located near the medicines counter so customers in need of help can be spotted and offered a free pain assessment if necessary. A full range of products is on display, from non-medicated options through to pharmacy-only medicines. Patients are asked to rate their pain on a scale of one to 10 and to describe the type of pain to help the team decide what to recommend.

The focus of the front shop is on pain relief and skincare

Fastest growth

According to Nigel Swift, his company’s sales figures prove that it has chosen the right areas to focus on in its EPN stores. In 2014, LloydsPharmacy reported its fastest growth in a year and most successful Christmas trading performance in seven years. The pain relief category achieved 23 per cent year-on-year growth during September to December 2014, while the skin health category rose by 62 per cent in the same period.

Following the success of the Betterlife range, Celesio opened its first dedicated independent living store in Leeds in August last year. The store includes a fully furnished bedroom and bathroom, a multi-surface track to test mobility scooters and even a car boot to check the ease of loading products into vehicles.“We want visiting the store to be a positive experience,” says Nigel Swift, “enabling people to find out about and test devices that they may not otherwise know about.” 

A second Betterlife store opened last month in Wells Green, Birmingham. LloydsPharmacy saw a 209 per cent year-on-year increase in Betterlife sales in 2014.

The pain relief category achieved 23 per cent year-on-year growth during September to December 2014

Empowering patients

An emphasis on patient empowerment is also reflected in the wide range of innovative and affordable health technology available at the New Square store, such as blood pressure monitors, stepometers and heart rate monitors.

These products complement the pharmacy’s already extensive range of services, which include diabetes, blood pressure and cholesterol testing, and heart health checks, as well as flu vaccinations and stop smoking counselling. For example, patients who have been diagnosed with diabetes via the free diabetes testing service have received advice on selecting and using a blood glucose monitor to help them self-manage their condition.

Another way in which the pharmacy is empowering patients is through touch screen tablets and information points. These enable customers to acquire more information about medical conditions or products, with or without the intervention of a member of staff.

“One of the core elements of EPN is providing health information so people can make an informed decision,” explains Swift. “Some people prefer to browse themselves and the information points give key details so that they can select the most appropriate product for their needs.

These little touches help people to develop their own healthcare knowledge.” The UK has proved “one of the most challenging markets” in which to introduce the EPN concept, he says, due to the wide availability of GSL products and low awareness among the public of what pharmacy has to offer. However initiatives like EPN are helping to “put pharmacy on the map from a patient point of view”.

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