A business award-winning contractor in Slough has urged pharmacies to follow in his footsteps to raise the sector's profile.

Wexham Road Pharmacy was named Community-based Business of the Year at the Slough Business Awards last month (March 26), and owner Vimal Patel said pharmacies across the country should use similar local awards to their advantage.

“Pharmacists don't really get involved in stuff like this, but they should. Firstly, to raise the profile of their own business; and secondly, to raise the profile of pharmacy as a whole,” he told C+D yesterday (April 15).

Mr Patel described the awards ceremony – which was attended by businesses such as Telefonica and Heathrow Airport - as a “brilliant opportunity for networking” and to “fly the flag for independent pharmacists”. “We're a small micro-business but we were sitting amongst the chiefs of big national companies and we were in the local press,” he said.

“We explained how pharmacy worked and that independent pharmacies need more recognition. People think you're just pill pushers, so it was a chance to tell them what we're really doing,” he said.

The pharmacy had been nominated by patients, and Mr Patel said it had won the award due to its accessibility. “We’re [on] a 100-hour contract but our speciality is that we’re [open] 24 hours on the weekend, which is pretty much unheard of around the area,” he said.

Mr Patel thought the pharmacy’s use of technology to communicate with patients had also been a factor in its success. “The patients get a text every four weeks saying 'your prescription's ready' or 'don't forget to take your blood pressure reading'. It's less intrusive,” he added.

Rafiq Chohan, managing director of the awards’ organiser Enbright Services, said a pharmacy was an “obvious choice for consideration”.

“In Wexham Pharmacy we saw innovation, technology and entrepreneurial risk taken to gain [a] competitive edge. Wexham proved what can be done to take on multinationals and other established local pharmacists,” Mr Chohan added.

The C+D Awards 2015 shortlist has been unveiled. Celebrate with the finalists by booking your tickets here. 

 

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