Staff shortages and the future of Pharmacy
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Pharmacies of the future will play an even more important role in healthcare than they do today.
This became evident during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, it has since been recognized by 44% (1) of pharmacy end customers interviewed in Europe. The additional services that pharmacies are taking on require more staff – not a problem, when qualified applicants can be found. But in April of this year a survey run by the PSNC (2), found that 91% of pharmacy owners were experiencing staff shortages. The estimated number of hours of unexpected closures totaled 7,598 – 13.3 per pharmacy surveyed.
Increase in pressure & working hours
This is leading to an increase in pressure and in working hours for many members of pharmacy teams.
On top of this, adding additional clinical services without optimizing processes can also mean that each pharmacist loses up to 33% (3) of their productive time to inefficient and repetitive tasks. These tasks are highly prone to human error. And wouldn’t your pharmacists rather be helping customers in need instead of toiling away in the back room?
Improvements with automation
By assisting in the streamlining of process and repetitive task such as prescription dispensing and stock management, automated solutions can help with the redistribution of staff time. Resources can then be reallocated back into focusing on patients or into providing additional services. To this point, a recent customer survey run by BD Rowa found that, second to improvements in patient safety, 25% of respondents recognized that BD Rowa solutions had assisted in time savings. A further 20% noted an improvement in working environment due to less time-related stress placed on members of their teams.
By providing a calmer and more clinical focused environment, along with possible re-allocations of staff towards value added activities such as additional services, pharmacies can also hope to retain or attract highly qualified members of staff. In a time where staff shortages and increased wages are causing concern for pharmacy owners, automation becomes a crucial source for thought.
If you would like to find out more about how BD Rowa solutions can help to streamline processes within your pharmacy, please contact a member of our team.
Sources:
- Appinio market research done for BD Rowa in 2020.
- https://psnc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/PSNC-Briefing-013.22-Summary-of-the-results-of-PSNCs-2022-Pharmacy-Pressures-Survey.pdf
- IQVIA market research done for BD Rowa in 2019.
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