Dear Member,
Over the past few months under the pandemic it has become evident that pharmacy businesses nationwide are operating much differently than before. The profession is ever evolving and community pharmacy will be playing a much greater clinical role in the future.
Pharmaplus has repeatedly stated through the years that this would be the direction of travel, the pandemic has only brought this to the front line.
So, this brings us to our unique offering - 'patient walk-in clinic service'. Below are the details we
discuss in this email:
1. The Walk-in Clinic Service
2. How does the Walk-in Clinic Service work?
3. Additional Clinical Services that you can offer
4. Deal Sheet and Central Invoicing details
1. The Walk-in Clinic Service
The service is genuinely a 'clinical' service provided in conjunction with our recommended supplier MHRx Ltd. It enables pharmacists to both diagnose and prescribe for conditions that they would have otherwise had to refer to a GP. The 'patient walk-in service' opens up a previously untapped market that allows you to support and capture patients that would have otherwise
burdened the NHS with ailments that you could treat in the pharmacy.
This service will show increased demand now, particularly that GP surgeries are remaining shut or only allowing minimum access to patients - a scenario likely to continue for quite a while. We have also heard that the pandemic has accelerated the earmarking of many GP practices for closure.
2. How does the Walk-in Clinic Service work?
- We train you in a range of diagnostic skills.
- You then assess patients that come into your pharmacy with your new skillset under strict
protocols.
- You can then decide to issue a prescription if you are an independent prescriber OR refer to a telephone hotline where qualified medical staff will assess your consultation and issue a prescription on your
behalf.
- You will then charge the patient for the cost of the consultation, and dispensing the prescription (if deemed necessary to be issued).
- As an innovation to the service, it is now even possible to use video consultations, if you are worried about patient contact and the transmission of COVID-19.
- The service requires a monthly subscription to provide you with unlimited private prescriptions to fulfil this side of the service. This subscription also covers other services such as GP shadowing and indemnifies you. It is a
mandatory part of the service unless you are an independent prescriber.
If promoted correctly, the service can help build trust with your patients, provides them with an opportunity to discover what a pharmacist can genuinely do and it will be a source of additional revenue to your business.
