P&S Chemist Wins Community Award at the 2015 Pharmacy Business Awards
The Community Award is for the independent community pharmacist who has played an outstanding role in service to the community, locally or nationally.
P&S Chemist, based in the ethnically diverse community of Ilford in Essex, is more than a part of its local community, in many ways, it is the fabric of the community.
Shaheen Bhatia, the pharmacist, and the rest of her team (Omera, pre-reg, now qualified pharmacist; Indu, dispensary manager; Tracy, technician; Chan, dispenser; Rothna, HCA, provide a wide range of services tailored to their local community which has resulted in a significant percentage of turnover being derived from these services and an increase in profit each year.
"They've absolutely gone to town in promoting health in their local community," one judge said. "The team handles patients in their own language. Historically, females in the community struggled to get sexual health advice but they were able to promote the fact that the pharmacy is a safe place to come and talk about sexual health needs."
Shaheen Bhatia receiving the Community Award at the 2015 Pharmacy Business Awards, image courtesy of Asian Media & Marketing Group.
Following feedback from patients, the sexual health services were designed to meet the needs of the local community where conversations about contraception are often taboo.
By providing a completely confidential service, the local women feel comfortable to drop into the pharmacy to seek advice and medication and, by word of mouth, this service has now spread further afield.
The sexual health service has evolved to include chlamydia and gonorrhoea testing. The team has also focused on child protection training and as a result, have identified safeguarding issues that have been passed on appropriately.
The team also supports clients through the stop smoking service and offers the service in a variety of different languages. Recently Shaheen started to offer a range of travel vaccinations and anti-malaria medication in response to the number of people visiting Mecca and wider afield.
Health check days are also organised where the pharmacy team tests large numbers of people, recently finding five people with raised blood pressure, with one man not taking his medication for over a year because he had no symptoms.
Article courtesy of the Pharmacy Business Awards©, 2015. All rights reserved.
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