Services to Pharmaceutical Companies

Pharmacy Consulting Ltd (PCL) was approached by a Pharma company to support a small medicines pilot management project. The consultancy support required was to identify and establish a willing group of independent pharmacies to pilot a Medicines Management intervention on one particular product. After the initiative PCL were asked to support and evaluate the results obtained from the active pharmacies in comparison to a number of matched controls

The Pharmacy Consulting approach

As this was a pilot project, in one region, known reliable independent pharmacists were approached directly by PCL concerning participation. They were briefed on project participation in person by the senior consultant of PCL and also given detailed written instructions upon the required activity laminated in 1 x A4 page instructions. During the period of measured activity by the pharmacists, PCL maintained active and supportive contact with participating pharmacists by telephone

Customer benefits

The customer was rapidly and inexpensively able to gain a good idea of the impact, benefits and pitfalls of the chosen medicines management approach, whilst still behaving professionally and within ABPI guidelines, prior to considering a larger more comprehensive study.

A major Pharma company asked for help from Pharmacy Consulting to identify services which community pharmacists would value and welcome, that they as a large Pharma company could support or provide. This initial exercise was to form the beginning part of a wider company goal to build closer working relationships with community pharmacists.

The Pharmacy Consulting approach

In order to get as many constructive ideas as possible, community pharmacists were contacted by Pharmacy Consulting at pre-agreed times when they were able to give a few minutes of their time. To get them to begin thinking about the subject, they were given beforehand, by e-mail, a small number of example possible services to consider, as well as asked to start thinking about other services that they would value if provided to them.

When they were subsequently contacted by telephone later on, they had received sufficient time to reflect not only on the few straightforward services suggested but also time to think of what services they as individuals would truly value

The project brief welcomed not only gaining service ideas from community pharmacists but was also open to service ideas identified by the senior consultant from Pharmacy Consulting based upon experience and knowledge of planned pharmacy policy developments

Customer benefits

The customer was able to tap into the thoughts and ideas of a number of experienced owner/proprietor pharmacists without great expense and also within a finite timescale.

(This project did lead on to the subsequent provision of some of the identified services)