Friendlies Pharmacy Busselton has been named as one of five finalists in the 2018 Guild Pharmacy of the Year Awards.
The Pharmacy of the Year Awards recognise community pharmacies that are highly motivated, innovative and have adaptable business models.
Friendlies Pharmacy Busselton co-proprietor David Williams said being named as a finalist was an honour.
“I always attend the Australian Pharmacy Professional conference and the presentation of the awards and seeing what other pharmacies are doing is one of the sessions I would never miss,” he said.
“I am always inspired by what they are doing and it would be great if we can also inspire other pharmacies by what we are doing.
“To be part of that evolution at a time of critical change in our profession means a lot to all of us at the pharmacy professionally, as well as a lot to me personally.”
Freeing up pharmacists to provide face-to-face health services for patients has been the driving philosophy behind a major change in direction for pharmacy.
Mr Williams said there was a clear need to innovate and change the way of doing business.
“We identified that to deliver our range of health services effectively we needed more space because in the existing model we didn’t have anywhere to really provide these properly,” he said.
“We also recognised that we needed to increase our capacity to ensure our pharmacists had the time to deliver the increasing health needs of our community.”
As part of a new efficiency model, the staff were divided into teams for aged care, health services, dispensary pharmacists and front-of-shop staff.
All the changes have paid off, with the pharmacy experiencing strong growth over the past 12 months.
Awards judging group spokesperson Nick Panayiaris said the nominations in this year’s awards all showed a clear process of workplace transformatio, which supported dedicated services with a focus on health outcomes for patients.
“A feature of the Pharmacy of the Year Awards is seeing how pharmacies continue to adapt, transform and evolve every year as the dynamics of the profession and industry change,” he said.
“This year is no exception and these finalists provided a new benchmark for many other pharmacies to look up to.”
The Guild Pharmacy of the Year for 2018 will be announced at the Australian Pharmacy Professional conference on May 3.
