Do customers in your pharmacy think you are worth the wait?

When it comes to customers choosing which pharmacy to go to, market research has shown that the time spent waiting for a prescription to be dispensed is second only to location in the list of influencing factors.

However, it is not necessarily the time customers spend waiting in a pharmacy that influences their choice, but their perception of that time and the service that they receive.

Patient surveys

Patient satisfaction surveys provide a means of looking at customer perception of dispensing waiting times. Although the surveys do not measure actual waiting times, customers indicate how happy they were with the speed of service, and pharmacists can see from the results where they are doing well and where they need to improve, says Neal Patel, head of communications at the National Pharmacy Association.

“Armed with this information they can introduce new systems or do follow-up customer research to find out exactly what patients coming in with prescriptions want from their pharmacy,” he says.

A patient satisfaction survey carried out by Assura Pharmacy has shown that there is a clear correlation between people saying “I think I waited too long” and their overall perception of the service, according to Kevin Joshua, the company’s central operations manager. “If [customers] waited too long, they tended to mark down other aspects of the service,” he says.

Assura monitors waiting times for each of its branches on a weekly basis. Individual branch targets are set to help keep waiting times to a minimum, although not at the expense of patient safety, says Mr Joshua.

Minimising dispensing time

There are ways that contractors can help minimise the time taken to dispense a prescription, says Mr Joshua. These are based around staffing issues and looking at how efficiently the prescription travels through the pharmacy.

Staff issues Staff should have specific responsibilities and these responsibilities should be clarified with their manager. There should be a staff plan to dictate who is responsible for which tasks and at which time of the day. This should be based on the peaks and troughs of the different parts of the business.

For example, the prescription collection workload will often peak at a different time to the “walk-in” prescription workload, and so staff need to be allocated tasks accordingly.

Assura Pharmacy uses a waiting time recording system, which allows each pharmacy to identify “bottlenecks” in their dispensing process. This enables pharmacy managers and their teams to focus on streamlining particular aspects of their workflow in the dispensary, says Mr Joshua.

Dispensary layout Stock and consumable items (eg, bottles, bags and cartons) need to be stored ergonomically depending on the layout of the individual pharmacy and the position of IT equipment, says Mr Joshua.

Pharmacy managers should be prepared to adjust their dispensary layouts and try different options to reduce the amount of time spent walking around the dispensary or bumping into other members of staff.

For example, the 50–100 most commonly dispensed products could be stored near the dispensing workstations.

Separating receiving and collecting

From the patient’s perspective, the operational process can be split into two parts:

• Dropping off a prescription
• Picking up dispensed items

“For some patients, the first part can be removed by collecting repeat prescriptions from local surgeries,” says Mr Patel. “This allows the dispensing workload to be planned, freeing up time for patients who drop off prescriptions themselves.” In addition, prescription collection allows items to be dispensed before the patients calls in to collect them.

Dropped off prescriptions For pharmacies that have a lot of patients bringing in prescriptions, it may be worth having a “drop off” box installed. Mr Patel explains: “Patients can leave a phone number on the prescription so that they can be contacted if there are any issues with the prescription.”

Another option is to offer a next day service, which gives the pharmacist time to order any items that are not in stock. “With any new system, it is important to test whether it is wanted by patients,” says Mr Patel. “Explain the process to patients and then manage their expectations accordingly.”

Keeping the customer occupied

Reducing prescription waiting times is not the only way to increase customer satisfaction. Occupying customers and putting the time spent waiting to good use may also help.

Building a rapport Raj Patel, an independent pharmacist at Mount Elgon Pharmacy, Wimbledon, has found that waiting time is not such an issue for patients if it is spent building a good rapport with them, and if they are kept informed of how long they have to wait. He also plays classical music in his pharmacy to make the experience more enjoyable.

He suggests that pharmacists should take the opportunity to talk to patients while they wait — but this requires them to be released from the dispensing bench. Promoting skill-mix is therefore essential.

“I am able to talk to my patients because I have staff that can dispense,” he says. “Ideally, I want all prescriptions to be handed out by the pharmacist, so that all of my patients know that I’m accessible for professional advice. It is a difficult balance to achieve.”

Raj Patel believes that other pharmacists should delegate their duties so that more time can be spent with patients: ”All pharmacists need to invest in staff training and have adequate 'resource' in their pharmacy to meet the needs of the new contract.” He is currently training one of his assistants to be an accredited checking technician, for example, to help with this.

Activities while you wait Rowlands Pharmacy has installed touch screen technology in 180 of its pharmacies, enabling customers to access information on a wide range of health issues. The company is also trialling digital signage screens to help engage customers.

In stores with screens installed, an increase in product sales has been seen, says John D’Arcy, commercial director at Rowlands. “People will complain about waiting times if there is nothing else to occupy them,” he says. Whether you are a big, small or medium size company, the key message is about engaging customers, he adds.

It is also worth considering health promotion opportunities. Displays of leaflets and posters, or offering to recruit patients for a cardiovascular risk assessment, would add value to the trip to the pharmacy and make patients more likely to return, says Neal Patel.

Service tailored to the customer “If someone is collecting a 15 item prescription from your pharmacy, it is likely that they would benefit from an MUR [medicines use review],” says Neal Patel. “Perhaps this could be done while they wait for the items to be dispensed.”

However, this approach is not likely to go down well with office workers who bring a prescription to the pharmacy during their lunch hour and will want a speedy service. It is important to consider what the customer wants, Neal Patel adds. “Meet that need first and they will come back next time.”