Due to the events of the past few years, the workload of most pharmacists and their pharmacies has dramatically increased. In fact, of all respondents surveyed, 19% agreed that currently the biggest pain point in their pharmacy is a lack of time.
In many cases, the introduction of automation into a pharmacy has been known to reduce time-intensive tasks, such as stock input and management. With the automated retrieval of medications for dispensing, workflows can be made more efficient, with less time wasted in searching or retrieving medications.
“One of the biggest things I noticed coming from a non-automated pharmacy was the calmness the robot brings and because we don’t have to rush about putting things away it saves a lot of time for both pharmacists and technicians” – James Martin, Pharmacy Manager, Chapel Lane Pharmacy.
With this time saved, pharmacists have the capacity to return to a more clinical role, providing additional support, guidance, and first line services to a predominantly aging population.
To accommodate this shift towards clinical first pharmacies, 26% of respondents agreed that it was key to increase the number of consultation rooms their pharmacies currently had available. We also found that around 88% of pharmacies who currently choose not to automate do so due to lack of space. This leaves us with one key question: where can space be found for these additional consultation rooms and does automation need to be sacrificed?
At Murray Pharmacy in East Kilbride, after installing the BD Rowa™ Vmax they discovered their need for less stock to be on the shelves. Reducing the number of shelves and storage space then allowed the pharmacy the space it needed to create a consulting area.
It could then be the case, that not only does automation allow pharmacies to make the very most of their time, but it can also allow them to adapt their available space, to grow with the evolving needs of pharmacies in the future.
You can read more about the experiences of automation at Chapel Lane Pharmacy and Murray Pharmacy by clicking the links below:
Murry Pharmacy, East Kilbride, UK
*Source: Survey put out by the National Pharmacy Association in 2021 with content support from BD Rowa™
