Leading pharmacist Fin McCaul will write a series of articles exclusively for Independent Community Pharmacist from next month on how to revolutionise the dispensing process.

The articles, part of a new series called Improving Independents, will focus on McCaul’s Prestwich Pharmacy in Manchester and its use of a Meditech robot to improve its automated dispensing.

The pharmacy, which has been serving its local community and beyond for the past four decades, had been using the same dispensing robot for 17 years but decided it had become slow, unreliable and a chore to manage on a daily basis, so opted to install a Meditech robot. In the articles, McCaul will provide a monthly update on how the new robot has not only improved dispensing but helped his team focus on rolling out clinical services too.

McCaul (pictured) says Meditech’s system is “fully integrable” with his pharmacy’s Positive Solutions PMR system. “We were looking for a quality product that was reliable, fast and large enough to meet our needs and Meditech was the clear choice,” he said.

“We also wanted a robot that could be placed in a new position, not in the existing space, to minimise disruption to our day-to-day dispensing. Meditech was the only company we spoke to that could make it happen.”

McCaul, who said he first saw Meditech at the Pharmacy Show in 2018, went to Belgium to meet its team, having heard this year that the company was considering coming to the UK. Don’t miss Improving Independents, starting in our October edition.