The winner of the Pharmacy Innovation prize at the C+D Awards proves the best ideas are the simple ones. Max Gosney reports

Seeing off a Jetson’s style futuristic pharmacy and a seven foot blue dog, the winner of C+D’s innovation of the year 2009, a good old fashioned wall chart, is testament to the fact that the best ideas are often the simple ones.

Simple, but very effective, says creator Community Pharmacy Scotland. Carol Farley, head of contractor services, explains: “When we had contract preparation payments, we used the wall chart to get as many people as possible to claim. Every month there was a reminder on what they should have done.” As a result the take-up of contract payments soared to nearly 100 per cent.

The system works by creating a monthly to do list for contractors. Tasks are prioritised so the most important come at the top of the list. Each one is accompanied by a tick box so they can be marked off when complete. The document is sent to pharmacy owners who pin it up on the dispensary notice board.

“If there’s a new circular coming out about vaccine, we would remind them to watch out for it,” Ms Farley says. “We tell them if there’s new payments and when the discount rate changes.”

Having all these everyday essentials in one place appears to have been the antidote for admin swamped contractors. Ms Farley says: “We’ve had some great feedback and they find it very useful. At a glance you can find out, have I done that this month? Sure it’s not going to tell them chapter and verse, but it will jog the memory.” 

C+D’s award judges were also won over by the concept. The panel praised the chart for allowing pharmacists to maximise additional funding and cut red tape. 

“It makes things much easier,” says CPS chairman Martin Green, pointing to the wall chart proudly occupying space at his MG Green pharmacy in Cadder, Glasgow. “In previous years there’s been money made available under the banner of contract development. It’s been cash that contractors have not been claiming. But through the wall chart we can draw their attention to that.”

The original idea was hatched at a team meeting at CPS’s Edinburgh HQ. “There were three of us having a conversation around a newsletter for members,” Ms Farley says. “I was discussing putting a monthly circular out and debating what to put in it. From that, Harry McQuillan – our chief executive – was saying we could do something that sets out each thing contractors must do on a monthly basis.”

The prototype gave pharmacy owners a three-monthly set of tasks, Ms Farley says. But the fast paced nature of running a pharmacy business meant the format switched to monthly as information quickly went out of date, she adds.

Buoyed by positive feedback from contractors, the CPS team didn’t think twice about entering the initiative for last year’s C+D Awards. Ms Farley explains: “It was Harry’s suggestion to enter. When he told me I thought it was going to make the finals. From there you don’t know what you’re up against.” In the end the opposition in the final didn’t really matter. When an idea is this effective, the writing is on the wall for the competition. 


Name
Community Pharmacy Scotland

Award won
C+D Pharmacy Innovation of the Year 2009 (collected by Heather Couston, pictured)

Judges’ verdict
Not only has the wall chart made administration easier for pharmacists, it has enabled them to access additional funding

The grassroots verdict on the wall chart

C+D asked Scotland-based contractor George Romanes to tell us how useful the CPS initiative was to his business.

Do you have your wall chart pinned up right now?
“Oh yes. If you had a video phone you would see it right beside me on the wall.”

How valuable is it?
“It’s been very useful. During the implementation of the new contract there have been contract preparation payments and the wall chart is crucial to keeping up to date with these. Without it you could have missed out on a substantial amount of cash over the past two years.”

How does the wall chart work?
“It’s like a roadmap that keeps you on the right track. CPS posts you out an up-to-date chart and I have a list of the key tasks that month. I know you can get a lot of the information online, but having something staring you in the face every working day spurs you into doing it. It’s a good use of contractors’ money.”

Better than a practice manager?
“We don’t talk about practice managers in pharmacy. But you do need someone on top of the everyday tasks that are vital to getting the business to run smoothly. The wall chart takes care of that.”

Did the wall chart deserve to win a C+D award?
“I’m not at all surprised the wall chart won. It proves how great ideas can be simple. But although the concept is simple, the information that goes into creating the chart takes a lot of research.”

George Romanes runs five pharmacies in the Borders, Northumberland and Lothian.